
Class 


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Book 


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IFts IResources 




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COMPILED BY AUTHORITY OF THE STATE, UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF 

JOHN W. JOCHIM, Secretary of State 



1893 



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MICHIGAN 



AND 



ITS RESOURCES 



SKETCHES OF THE GROWTH OF THE STATE, ITS INDUSTRIES, AGRICULTURAL 
PRODUCTIONS, INSTITUTIONS, AND MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION; 
DESCRIPTIONS OF ITS SOIL, CLIMATE, TIMBER, FINANCIAL 
CONDITION, AND THE SITUATION OF ITS UNOCCU- 
PIED LANDS; AND A REVIEW OF ITS 
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 
AS A HOME. 



COMPILED BY AUTHORITY OF THE STATE, UNDER SUPERVISION OF JOHN W. JOCHIM, 

SECRETARY OF STATE. 




LANSING, MICH. 
ROBERT SMITH & CO., STATE PRINTERS AND BINDERS 

1893 



^^-' 



VA 



U 



L 3 1907 
D. ofD. 



PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION. 



The first edition of this work was issued in 1881, consisting of 12,000 copies, and 
was exhausted early in 1882. 

They were distributed upon application into every State and Canada. Soon after 
an edition of 5,000 copies was printed in the German language, also a similar edition 
in the Dutch language for Hollanders. Three thousand were issued in February fol- 
lowing and the same number in April. 

A little more than three months after the first edition was published a second 
edition of 20,000, enlarged and thoroughly revised, was issued. Much more valuable 
information was furnished in the second edition relative to finances, leading insti- 
tutions and industries of the State, together with facts derived from the statistics 
of 1880, railroad development, etc. It w^as found later that this supply was insuflB- 
cient and 10,000 additional copies were issued, making a total of 42,000 in the English 
language. Ten thousand more were ordered in February, which were soon exhausted. 

The third edition was issued in 1883, giving a sketch of each county and general 
information about the State. This, too, was exhausted before 1885, and still applica- 
tions were made for the book. The Legislature of 1891 authorized the reissue of 
the work, but the Governor failed to sign the act. 

In 1893 the Legislature authorized its recompilation and the reissue of 12,000 vol- 
umes, 8,000 copies of which were to go to the World's Fair, at Chicago, for 
distribution. 

The small appropriation and short time allowed to perform the work may largely 
interfere with its completeness, but such as it is we present it. There may be 
many errrors in it, that is the human part of it. To overlook errors would be the 
humane part, but a thorough investigation of the "Resources of Michigan'' would 
cause you, in the honesty of your conviction, to exclaim, " The half was never 
told!" 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Page 

Agricalture - - 24, 38 

Michigan Soils. R. C Kedzie.. -- - 24 

Fruit Belt and Potato district, R. C. Kedzie -- - 25 

Jack Pine Plains, R. C. Kedzie - 26 

In Upper Peninsula, R. C. Kedzie - 58 

Banks and Finance. T. C. Sherwood 169 

Berries, L. R. Taft.. - - - 33 

Copper, J. M. Longyear -- -- 55 

The Copper Country, R. A. Parker --- 66 

Coal, S. G. Higgins... 121 

Celery : 86 

Cranberries, R. C. Kedzie.. - 27 

Climate, J. G. Ramsdell.. ....41-60-62 

Charitable Institutions, L. C. Storrs... 161 

Emigration - 185 

Essential Oils, Geo. W. Osborn 4-^ 

Educational, J. E. Hammond „ 131 

Institutions under State Control 131 

not under State Control 153 

Fisheries, Herschel V. Whittaker ...^ — 175 

State Board of Commissioners, Geo. D. Mussey 178 

Distributions from Hatcheries - 179 

Farming - — - 80 

Fruit, J. G. Ramsdell .- 39 

Floriculture, Commercial, L. R. Taft 37 

Gold 55-80 

Geology, general. R. A. Parker 71 

Geographical, R. A. Parker 61 

Geographical and Geological, F. S. Dewey - 202 

Grindstones 85 

Horticultural Resources. L. R. Taft 32 

Historical, R. A. Parker , — . 62 

Health in Michigan. Dr. Henry B. Baker 193 

Hardwoods in Northern Michigan, J. G. Ramsdell.. - HO 

Iron 70 

Ore 54 

Ranges— Menominee, Marquette and Gogebic 75 

Production, Bilboa, Spain— comparison 79 

Institutions of Learning, J. E. Hammond 132 

State, Value of - 165 

Asylums for Insane 164 



Michigan and its Resoueces. 



Page 

Jack Pine Plains. R. C. Kedzie _ 24 

Labor, Diversity of. 29 

Land Office, U.S., U. P., Geo. A- Royce _. 19 

L. P., Oscar Palmer 20 

Michigan State 20 

Lumber Interests ...48-55-106 

Mining, Cost of... 69 

Michigan at the World's Fair 47 

by Counties 209 

as a Summer Resort 183 

Soldiers' Home 181 

Soils, B. C. Kedzie 24 

Market Gardening 35 

Markets 42 

Nursery Industry, L. R. Taft 35 

Potato District, R. G. Kedzie , 24 

Potato, The, L R. Taft 36 

Peppermint, Geo. W. Osborn 45-50 

Pig Iron Charcoal _ 86 

Railroad Department, E. A. Rundell 124 

Rivers and Water Powers. 8. B. McCracken 87 

Reformatories, L. C. Storrs. 161 

Sandstone, R. A. Parker 56, 80 

Serpentines, R. A. Parker _ 83 

Soils, Composition of, J. G. Ramedell 39 

State Governmenit 15 

Grovrth, Population and Wealth 17 

Penal and Charitable Institutions, L. C. Storrs... 161 

Valuation Table 12 

Indebtedness and Taxation, E. J. Wright.. 167 

Capitol 11 

Troops, C. L. Eaton 192 

Sault Ste. Marie, C. H. ('hapman 200 

Ship Yards and Ship Building... 187 

Shipping Ports, R. A. Parker 77, 128 

Salt Production, S. G. Higgins 117 

St. Clair Tunnel 126 

' (Cuts of, between pages 126 and 127.) 

Timber, Hardwoods of Michigan, J. (i. Ramsdell 110 

Broad Leaved Trees, W. J. Beal 113 

Truck Farming, L. R. Taft : 37 

Transportation, J. M. Longyear 59-62, 126 

Upper Peninsula, J. M. Longyear 53 

Resources. R. A. Parker 61 

Peninsular State __ 286 

Water Powers and Rivers of Michigan, 8. B. McCracken.. 87 

Upper Peninsula, F. W. Denton 99 

" 8oo." C. H. Chapmap , 164 



ADMISSION INTO THE UNION. 



A cenBUS of Michigan in 1834 showed a population 87,273, more than enough to 
entitle the territory to statehood. 

In 1835 the legislative council authorized a convention to form a State constitution, 
which was done in May and adopted by the people. At the same election State officers 
were chosen. 

• The legislature met in the November following, and Stevens T. Mason, " the boy 
Govenor," entered upon the duties of his office. 

At the same time John S. Horner claimed to be the Governor by virtue of an 
appointment by President Jackson. The history of the contest to settle this question 
forms a particularly interesting part of the history of Michigan, which want of space 
compels us to omit. It was at this time the historical " Toledo war " made an epoch 
of Michigan more ludicrous than serious. 

Michigan claimed the boundary line established by the ordinance of 1787 must 
obtain. By this a considerable strip would be taken from northern Ohio, and even 
Toledo would be placed in Michigan Ohio claimed the said ordinance had been set 
aside by the constitution. 

Ohio was in possession. Michigan laid claim to the strip. Stevens T. Mason, with 
probably more spirit than mature judgment, determined at whatever cost to repos- 
sess the coveted strip, and Gov. Lucus, of Ohio, was equally determined to hold it. 

In the spring of 1836 Gov. Mason called the State troops, formed an army of 
about 1,000 men, and marched to the scene of conflict. From the general history of 
the matter it was considered more boys' play than anything else by the authorities 
at Washington. No battle was fought, in fact it never assumed a very hostile or 
warlike appearance. 

There was probably no intention on either side to spill either Wolverine or 
Buckeye blood. Not but the men on both sides of the conflict were brave and 
determined, but the whole affair wore the appearance of a snowball battle, and 
trickery took the place of military tactics. It has been said that there was an 
understanding among the troops on each side that blank cartridges only were to be 
used. 

In order to conciliate both sides the general government made a proposition 
that Ohio should retain possession of the strip, and Michigan should have the 
entire upper peninsula. This was rejected by Michigan. A small strip of farm 
land and the village of Vistula or Toledo was considered worth more than the 



8 Michigan and its Resources. 

whole upper peninsula. But the State was organized and could be admitted to the 
coveted dignity of a real State by accepting the terms— washing off the war paint, 
and exchanging the implements of warfare for a state seal. Consequently on the 
15th day of December, 1836, assented to the conditions, and on the 27th. day of 
January, 1837, Michigan became a member of the great family. 

There being no more serious results from the Toledo war than mere disappoint- 
ment among a few ambitious persons, the whole matter has been looked upon as a 
joke. 

There was no sectional hatred or animosities resulting from the Toledo war. It 
is likely the ambition of a few may have been chilled, but the whole matter has 
been looked upon as a joke, and now, when the great wealth of the upper penin- 
sula is considered, the joke becomes richer. As stated, Michigan became a State 
in 1837 and took rank in population as 23d, having a population of 174,467. In 1890 
it stood 9th, with a population of 2,093,889. 

GEOGEAPHICAL. 

In latitude it is the same as the State of New York and is located between 42 
and 48° north latitude. 

The most southern portion of England is 50° north. France is located between 
42 and 50°, Norway entirely north of 58°, Sweden principally north of 56°. Marquette 
in Michigan is more than two degrees farther south than the city of Paris in 
France. Copper Harbor, in Keweenaw county, the most northern village of Mich- 
igan, is about the same latitude as the central part of France. The southern line 
of Michigan is in the same latitude as Eome in Italy and the northern line of 
Portugal, Oregon, Wisconsin, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts 
and Maine are in the same latitude. The State is nearly surrounded by the grand- 
est fr6sh water lakes in the world. On the north Lake Superior, the largest 
lake in the world, the navigation of which passes through one of the finest lock 
canals in the world, located at Sault Ste. Marie ( " the Soo" ). Lake Michigan 
" the great unsalted sea," next in size, is the grandest and most beautiful body 
of fresh water in the world. Lakes Huron, St. Clair and Erie on the east are 
grand bodies of water. Michigan has a coast line of more than 1,600 miles. 
Vessels carrying 1,000,000 feet of lumber may be seen in her waters. It has 7,410 
miles of railroad. There are 84 organized counties (not including Isle Royal), most 
of which have well built court houses. In the front line of products in the United 
States we find Michigan points to copper, lumber and salt, and in close proximity 
to the frqnt, wheat, iron, fruit, potatoes, celery, etc. In manufactories, Michigan 
furniture, cars, carriages, engines, pianos, and in fact nearly all productions of soil, 
skill and labor are well up in the scale of excellence. 

EARLY IMPRESSIONS. 

For many years Michigan was handicapped by the impression becoming general 
that there was nothing in the State to induce settlers. In the early settlement 
of the State a commission was appointed to investigate and make report relative to the 
condition of the land, its value, etc. Their visit occurred at a time when the State, 
almoet a wilderness, was very wet, and it is supposed they became disgusted. • They 
reported that the State was a vast swamp. It was called the Great Black Swamp, the 



Admission into the Union. 



principal products being frogs and ague, and what timber there was on the land was 
entirely inaccessible. This, coming from the source it did, created a very unfavorable 
impression of Michigan and the tide of immigration was turned toward other States. 
This impression was strengthened by a letter written by a deputy United States sur- 
veyor when surveying Oakland county. It was probably very wet weather. The writer 
said in substance that the land was springy and indicated a submarine lake underly- 
ing the surface, rendering it very unsafe for horses or men, and finished his letter 
by saying that the balance of the State was a vast swamp, and inasmuch a& 
this was about as far west as civilization was ever likely to extend, it would 
be useless expenditure of time and money to proceed any further with the survey. 

Had a true representation of the vast resources of the State been made at the 
time instead of the erroneous impression that was not even worthy of investigation, 
the State today would occupy even a more exalted position in the galaxy of' States. 

The writer remembers an incident showing the impression of Michigan in Ohio, 
When the Illinois and Iowa fever struck Ohio thousands were going to the west 
to invest. A gentleman from Michigan visited my fathers house in Ohio, and 
learing that the western fever had struck my father, asked him why not go to 
Michigan. "Michigan? Go to Michigan to shake with ague and starve to death, 
the frogs piping a requiem at my funeral? Why there is hardly an acre of farm- 
ing land in the State. This we know, for we have it straight from the public 
statements. What do not starve or die with malarious diseases, will freeze to 
death." Such was believed of Michigan. School children were told of the '• Great 
Desert of the west, and the Great Black Swamp of Michigan." Early geographers 
were at fault and the more pious wondered why the Creator had made such places as 
the Great Desert and Michigan. 

Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, and other States were benefited by 
these false statements and impressions. Thousands of enterprising persons from 
overcrowded eastern states went west. 

Many who had never seen prairies were enchanted, nothing to do but begin 
farming. When crops were gathered the question arose, what will we do with 
them. When winter came the question of fuel became urgent. 'Tis true the 
Creator had spread out a beautiful panorama of his handiwork, but the great 
beauty of land was at the expense of timber for lumber to build and fuel to burn. 
The greatest school to teach appreciation of blessings is deprivation. Obstacles to 
perfect enjoyment are often rich blessings. The gi-eat unbroken forests of Michi- 
gan, " that dreadful country,-" was intended to supply the lumber for homes and 
comforts throughout the prairie and timberless regions of the west. It was also a 
storehouse with unlimited supply of iron, copper and salt. Millions of people 
today enjoy the comforts of houses built of Michigan lumber. Stop and consider a 
moment. The State furnished say ^,000,000,000 feet of lumber per year; allow 20,000 
feet to each house, this would be sufficient to build 200,000 houses for families of 
five each, 1,000,000 persons, and although this great drain on the timber supply 
has been going on for a quarter of a century or more, sufficient pine is left to 
supply the needs of the State, and it is safe to say that enough timber has been 
burned and otherwise destroyed to supply a good sized state with buildings. 

The State is practically out of debt and can not get into debt very deeply, or 
more than $50,000. The public buildings, complete and elegant, are all paid for, 
2 



10 



Michigan and its Kesoueces. 



consisting of capitol, two penitentiaries four asv]nm« f. ,^ ■ 
for the blind, and one asylum for the deaf and dH "''"'' °"' '^^°«'' 

sities in the world, the finest agricultu!., . , • T ' °''' °' '^' '"^^^^^ "°i^'«- 
industrial school fm- boys ame fo. ^^ ^^' " " '''''''"' ^*^*^^' -formatory. 

about everything hat'eo M be ealled' """"' "'°° ' ^°^'^^"' ^^-^' ^^^ ^ ^^^ 
other older states stopped She hV! ""P^'^^^'^^^t^- Michigan .began where 
in her .eady niarchTtt "L^rilTc^^ritrn^- -'^^^^ ^ ^^^ ^ ^^t 



THE STATE CAPITOL 



The seat of government of the State was located at Lansing in 1847. 

The old capitol was built and archives of the State removed. There was no city 
here, not even a village. It was almost an unbroken wilderness. To illustrate the 
wild condition of the land at that time an incident may be mentioned. 

Arrangements were made to perform a wedding ceremony in the Governor's room. 
Guests were invited, among whom were a couple of ladies living near the present 
location of the Everett house, about five or six blocks from the capitol. Toward 
evening they left home to attend the wedding, lost their way, wandered around the 
country through the forest and thickets until dark and being unable to find the 
capitol took the back track, or in some way found home. They gave it up, disgusted 
with "city life," but glad they had escaped contact with bears and wolves. 

Nearly opposite the capitol, or across the road, now Washington Ave., near the 
present location of the Hudson house, there stood a monster walnut tree. During 
a storm it fell across the road, completely blocking the road (probably the only 
road). It became necessary to get it out of the way. It was cut into logs, piled 
up and burned in a great log heap, no value being placed on the lumber it would 
have made. 

The new capitol was begun in 1872. An appropriation of 81,430,000 was made, 
31,427,743.78 expended and $2,256.22 turned back into tKe treasury. An act standing 
today as a living monument to the honesty of the building committee. An act having 
few if any parallels in the history of the country. 

The building is 345x191.5 feet, or including porticoes and steps 420x274 feet- 
Extreme height, 267 feet. Covers one and one-sixth acres and has a walk around 
outside wall of 1,520 feet. 

The superstructure is built of Amherst, Ohio, sandstone; 15,000,000 Lansing brick 
•were used. English plate glass of best quality, in fact all materials were of the best. 
And although fifteen years have passed since it was built not a flaw is found in 
the work or design except, perhaps, the poor accoustic properties of the hall of 
representatives. 

The two legislative halls are illuminated by electric lights. Through the building 
there are 271 chandeliers, 1,702 gas burners, one elevator, and about 20 elegant 
stairways. It is heated by steam throughout. The plumbing system is perfect. 
There is not the remotest danger from fire, wind or water. 

In short it is the most elegant and complete capitol in the United States built 
for anything near the same amount of money. 



POPULATION, VALUATION, ETC. 



Population, valuation, total acreage, area in farms, public lands subject to sale or 
entry, chief x>roducts, compiled from statistics. 



Counties. 


Popu- 
lation, 
1890. 


Valuation. 

1890. 


Total 
acreage. 


Acreage 
in farms. 


Public 

lands 

subject to 

sale 
or entry. 


Chief products. 


Alcona 


5,409 


$1,500,000 


435,257 


31,586 


27,147 


Lumber and farm products. 


Alger 


1,238 
38,961 

15,581 


2,500,000 

16,000,000 

6,000,000 


588,862 
529,951 
370.325 


8,380 

364,798 

49,092 


28,409 

984 

22,320 


Lumber, building stone, charcoal 

and fisheries. 
Farm products, fruit, peppermint, 

lumber, paper and woolen mills. 
Lumber, farm products and fisheries. 


Allegan... 

Alpena 


Antrim 

Arenac 

Baraga. 

Barry 


10,413 
5,683 
3,036 

23,783 


3,000,000 

1,250,000 

2,000,000 

15,000,000 


306,552 
234,998 
583,601 
352,032 


50,799 

46,825 

1,423 

302,188 


2,960 

1,085 

34,346 

112 


Lamber, bark, charcoal and farm 
products. 

Lumber, farm products, manufacto- 
ries and fisheries. 

Lumber, building stone, slate and 
farm products. 

Farming products, fruits and manu- 
factories. 

Lumber, ship building, manufacto- 
ries and fisheries. 


Bay - 


56,412 
5,287 


27,000,000 
2,000,000 


285,820 
204,138 


123,735 
34,509 




Benzie.- 


5,630 


Berrien 


41,285 


18,000,000 


368,414 


278,661 






Branch 


26,791 


20,000,000 


320,443 


282,488 




and fisheries. 
Farm products, dairying and stock. 

Farm products, fruit and manufac- 
tories. 

Farm products, fruit and manufac- 
tories. 

Lumber, farm products, fisheries, etc. 


Calhoun 

Case 


43,501 
20,953 
9,686 


30,000,000 
16,000,000 
3,500,000 


447,115 

312,927 
247,099 


373,777 

260,440 

55,020 


120 


Charlevoix 


3,070 


Cheboygan 


11,986 


4,000,000 


468,745 


44,758 


27,525 


Lumber, farm products and fisheries. 


Chippewa 


12,019 


5,000,000 


995,225 


48,000 


121,009 


* Lumber, grain, building stone. 


Clair 


7,558 


2,500,000 


864,020 


29,366 


6,497 


Farm products. 

Farm products and stock. 


Clinton 


26,509 


19,000,000 


364,895 


311,001 


94 


Crawford 

Delta 


2,962 
15,330 
a 


2,000,000 
4,000,000 
6,031,550 


359,459 
742,975 
491,917 


14,065 
29,995 
2,562 


31,124 
64,064 
11,289 


Lumber, saw mills and farm pro- 
ducts. 


Dickinson 


products. 
Iron ore, lumber and farm products. 


Eaton 


32,094 


20,000,000 


366,467 


308,565 


80 


Farm products and manufactories. 

Farm products, fruit, lumber and 
manufactories. 

Farm products, fruit and manufac- 
tories. 

Fruit and farm products. 


Emmet 

Genesee 

Gladwin 


8,756 
39,430 

4,208 


3,000,000 
25,000,000 
2,000,000 


272,057 
411,015 
880,018 


39,927 

345.918 

22,090 


4,008 

80 
28,030 


Gogebic 


13,166 


15,000,000 


687,145 


1,277 


11,798 


IroB ore and Inmbering. 


Gd. Traverse... 


13,355 


4,500,000 


297,002 


30,189 


8,120 


Fruit, farm products, lumber, manu- 
factories. 



a Included in Marquette, Menominee and Iron. 

* Eleven million tons having passed the "Soo" canal in 1892. 



Population, Valuation, Etc. 



13 



Population, Valuation, Etc. — Continued. 



(yoanties. 


Popu- 
lation, 

1890. 


Valuation, 
1890. 


Total 
acreage. 


Acreage 
In farms. 


Public 
lands 

subject to 
sale 

or entry. 


Chief products. 


Gratiot 


28,668 


$10,000,000 


364,623 


243,772 


640 


Fruit, farm products and mineral 


Hillsdale 


30,660 


22,000,000 


384,950 


329,585 




Farm products, dairying and stock. 


Houghton 


35,389 


40,000,000 


646,470 


26,098 


46,670 


Copper, limestone and slate. 


Huron.. 


28,545 
37,666 
32,801 
15,224 
4,432 
18,784 


8,000,000 
21,000,000 
19,000,000 

5,000,000 


535,953 
354,227 
366,526 
354,128 
766,746 
368,740 


278,972 

287,483 

304,818 

26,861 

17,038 


70 
80 




Ingham 

Ionia 


coal, building stone. 

Farm products, manufactories and 
stock. 

Building stone, silk mills, farm pro- 
ducts and manufactories. _ 

Lumber, farm products, silt and 
plaster. 

Lumber and farm products. 

Lumber and farm products. 


Iosco . 


51,800 

25,723 

240 


Iron 


6,000,000 


Isabella 


6,000,000 


142,894 


IsleRoysd 


135 


100,000 


138,414 




21,868 


Stone, native copper and fisheries. 


Jackson 

Kalamazoo 

Kalkaska 


45,031 

39,273 

5,160 


31,000,000 
27,000,000 
8,700,000 


455,874 
357,726 
359,144 


355,721 
305,554 
34,943 


400 

80 

7,234 


Farm products, coal, sandstone and 

manufactories. 
Farm products, celery, peppermint 

and manufactories. 
Farm products, charcoal and lumber. 


Kent 


109,922 
2,894 


50,000,000 
3,000,000 


545,658 
213,754 


402,256 
4,518 






Keweenaw 


2,984 


manufactories. 
Copper and lumber. 


Lake 


6,505 


1,500,000 


365,886 


21,809 


4,891 


Timber, charcoal, farm products. 


Lapeer 


29,213 
7,944 


14,000,000 
1,250,000 


424,030 
195,882 


316,571 
80,612 




Farm products, lumber, charcoal and 


Leelanau 


2,282 


manufactories. 
Charcoal, fruit and farm products. 


Lenawee 


48,448 


30,000,000 


484,211 


392,071 






Livingston 

Luce 


20,858 
2,455 


16,000,000 
2,000,000 


370,845 
581,437 


317,496 


39,041 


Wool, stock, fruit and farm pro- 
ducts. 

Lumber, celery, charcoal and farm 
products. 

Charcoal, ore, lumber and farm pro- 
ducts. 

Stock, ships, mineral springs and 


Mackinac 


7,830 


2,000,000 


641,329 


29.088 


30,792 


Macomb 


31,813 

24.230 

860 


18,500,000 

9,000,000 

100,000 


302,314 
349,214 
69,115 


258,648 
55,595 
4,670 




Manistee 

Manitou 


9,418 
4,990 


fisheries. 

Lumber, salt, fruits and farm pro- 
ducts. 

Fisheries and farm products. 


Marquette 

Mason.. 


39,521 
16,385 


22,585,950 
4,500,000 


1,071,426 
315,326 


28,368 
54,070 


91,545 

2,780 


Iron, lumber, charcoal, pig iron, 

stone and fisheries. 
Lumber, fruit and farm products. 


Mecosta 


19,697 


5,000,000 


361,875 


113,925 


160 


Fruit, farm products and lumber. 


Menominee ... 


83,639 


7,312,500 


667,153 


49.189 


18,818 


Iron, farm products and lumber. 


Midland 


10,657 


2,000,000 


335,867 


71,112 


1,028 


Salt, lumber, farm products, bro- 


Missaukee 


5,048 


3,000,000 


362,798 


35,750 


7,555 


Farm products and lumber. 


Monroe 


32,237 
32,637 


16,500,000 
10,000,000 


859,444 

454,278 


266,994 
231,193 




Stock, farm products, manufactories 


Montcalm 




and fisheries. 
Farm products and lumber. 


Montmorency.. 


1,487 


1,000,000 


355,540 


16,966 


37,759 


Farm products and lumber. 


Muskegon 

Newaygo 

Oakland 


40,013 
20,476 
41,245 


13,000,000 
4,500,000 
29,600,000 


321,476 

542,222 
575,394 


96,995 
430,427 

478,898 


1,699 

1,779 

40 


Farm products, lumber, fisheries, 
fruit and manufactories. 

Farm products, fruit and manufac- 
tories. 

Wool, stock, fruit and farm products. 


Oceana 


15,698 


4,500,000 


344,895 


121,834 


1,320 


Lumber, fruit, furniture and farm 
products. 



14 



Michigan and its Resources. 



Population, Valuation, Etc. — Continued. 













Public 




Counties. 


Popu- 
lation, 

1890, 


Valuation, 
1890. 


Total 
acreage. 


Acreage 
in farms. 


lauds 
subject to 

sale 
or entry. 


Chief products. ' 


Ogemaw 

Ontonagon — 


5,583 
3,756 


$2,000,000 
2,000,000 


865,962 
858,880 


38,242 
7,967 


5.204 
118,974 


Lumber, farm products and manu- 
factories. 

Copper, fisheries, farm products, 
lumber. 

Timber and wood making factories. 


Osceola 


14,630 


4,000,000 


362,247 


103,057 


576 


Oscoda 


1,904 


1,000,000 


365,299 


25,146 


61,397 


Lumber and farm products. 


Otsego... 


4,272 


2,500.000 


334,085 


19,810 
209,079 


11,723 

440 

36,958 


Logs and lumber. 

Farm products, fruit, celery, stone, 
manufactories. 


Ottawa 

Presqnelsle.-. 


35,358 
4,687 


15,000,000 
1,500,000 


354,165 
428,309 


Roscommon... 


2,033 


1,500,000 


339.490 


' 5,045 


17,857 


Lumber and farm products. 


Saginaw 

Samlac 

Schoolcraft 

Shiawassee 


82,273 

32,589 

5,818 

30,952 


37,000,000 
8,000,000 
3,500,000 

17,000,000 


516,563 
616,035 
756,715 
343,964 


275,508 

815,955 

17,182 

262,906 


480 

507 

39.500 


Lumber, salt, coal, building stone 
and lake commerce. 

Lumber, farm products, manufacto- 
ries and fisheries. 

Pine, cedar, pig iron, fisheries and 
farm products. 

Farm products, coal and manufacto- 


St. Clair 


52,105 
25,356 


20,000,000 
20,000,000 


444,921 
321,403 


342,598 
290.719 




ries. 
Farm products, salt, lumber, fisheries 


St. Joseph 




and mineral water. 


Tascola 


32,508 


10,500,000 


519,098 


284,426 


400 


and farm products. 
Lumber products and farm products. 


Van Bnren 


30,541 


15,000.000 


391,289 


304,514 


82 


Fruit, stock, peppermint and farm 

products. 
Woolen and paper mills, fruit and 


Washtenaw ._. 


42,210 

2.571,141 

11,278 


31,000,000 

90,000,000 

4,000,000 


454,688 
385,033 
366,058 


376,300 

286,868 
52,456 




Wayne 




farm products. 
Fruit, farm products, fisheries, ship- 


Wexford 


17,700 


building, peppermint, furniture, etc. 
Lumber, fruit and farm products. 



STATE GOVERNMENT. 



Seat of government — Lansing. 

Legislative power — Senate and House of Representatives. 

Senate is composed of 32 members, presided over by Lieutenant Governor. 

House of Representatives composed of 100 members; presiding officer, Speaker, 
who is chosen by the members from one of their number. 

Convenes on first Wednesday of January in each uneven numbered year. 
Executive power is vested in Governor who, with Lieutenant Governor, is elected 

each alternate year. 
Judicial power is vested in Supreme Court and other courts below. 

Supreme Court is composed of five members elected for term of ten years. 
State OflBcers:— 

Secretary of State. 

Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

State Treasurer. 

Commissioner of State Land Office. 

Auditor General. 

Attorney General. 

Regents of the University. 
Appointive Officers:— * 

Commissioner of Banking. 

Commissioner of Railroads. 

Commissioner of Labor. 

Commissioner of Insurance. 

Commissioner Mineral Statistics. 

Librarian. 

Oil Inspector. 

Salt Inspector. 

Veterinarian. 

Game and Fish Warden. , 

Adjutant General. 

Quartermaster General. 

The diversified interests of the State are managed by State boards, such as 
Board of State Auditors, State Swamp Land, Control. Equalization, State Canvassers, 
Claims for Relief, St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal, Fund Commissioners, Geological 



16 Michigan and its Eesources. 

Survey, Internal Improvement, Escheats of Property to State, Agricultural Land 
Grant, Review of Assessment of Telegraph and Telephone Lines, Railroad Crossings. 
Railroad Consolidation, Railroad Control, Labor Statistics, Fish Commissioners. 
Health, Correction and Charities, Pardons, Pharmacy, Dentistry. Sanitary Commis 
sioners, Insurance Policy, Detroit Police, Jury Commissioners for Wayne Co., same for 
Saginaw Co., Soldiers' Home, Agricultural College, Forestry Commissioners, Normal 
School, Mining School, Public Schools, School for Deaf. Blind, Asylums for Insane 
(Michigan. Eastern, Northern), Industrial School for Boys, Home for Girls. State Prison 
(House of Correction. Upper Peninsula and Ionia). Insane Criminals, Detroit House 
of Correction, 

Every institution in the State of a public character is managed by boards. 



TH^ STATE— GROWTH, POPULATION AND WEALTH. 



ITS VALUE DISCOVERED. 

It is only within a very few years that the northern counties ot the lower 
peninsula have been known and understood, except by a few enterprising men, 
even among Michigan people. The extension of the lumber interests, seeking 
fresh material for the mills, led to their first thorough exploration, and it was 
not until those interests had acquired enormous magnitude that the now undoubted 
fact was realized that, great as had been their profits, the discoveries they had 
made and the great wilderness they had partially cleared promised more to agri- 
•culture than it had yielded to the ax. Immense tracts of hard-wood timber 
were found containing no pine, and it was found, too, that large portions of our 
northern territory which produce the best pine produce also the best crops. 
There are pine barrens bearing an inferior and scraggy wood, which the fas- 
tidious lumberman utterly neglects. But these occupy only limited areas in what 
are known as the pine regions of the State, and cover only a comparatively 
small portion of its territory. Most of the great trees which constitute the 
pride of our lumber forests, and have made Michigan pine famous at home and 
abroad, grow largely among beeches and hard maple and other valuable wood, 
which only flourish on soils capable of yielding good crops. A few of these 
noble pines, standing among scores of hard timber, give character to the dis- 
coveries of the " land looker " for the saw-mills, while in no wise detracting from 
the value of the soil on which they grow. Of course there are different degrees 
of value in these lands, as in all others, and the settler will exercise the same 
discretion in his choice as he does in determining other accessories to a home. 
But there are thousands of acres in Michigan from which pine trees have been 
cut, as well as many other thousands which have never borne pine, into the ^il 
of which no ploughshare has ever penetrated, which will well repay the labors 
of the husbandman, and the fee simple of which can be bought for less than 
a year's rental of many of the lands of Europe. 

AN UNSTIMULATED GROWTH. 

No organized effort has been made by the State to promote general immi- 
gration. Whatever means have been employed to invite population from abroad 
3 



18 



Michigan and its Resources. 



have been isolated and fragmentary. The growth of the State has been entirely 
natural and unstimulated. The result has been to make its people peculiarly 
hoijiogeneous in character. New elements have been assimilated with marked 
success and rapidity The natural resources and attractions of the State, how- 
ever, have continued to draw people hitherward from other States and from 
Europe, until the population of 57 years ago has increased nearly ten-fold. The 
territory which entered the Union in 1837, with 174,467 inhabitants of both sexes 
and all ages, sent to its defense less than thirty years later more than 90,000 
soldiers. The State which stood twenty-third in rank in 1840 had advanced to 
the 9th in 1890. A table based upon the returns of the United States census 
in each succeeding decade tells the whole stoi-y: 

Table showing the population of Michigan at each Federal Enumeration since the 
Admission of the State in 1837, ivith the Progressive Increase and Rank. 



CENSUS YEAR. 


Population. 


Increaee. 


1837 . 


174,467 

212.267 

397,654 

749,113 

1,184.059 

1,636,937 

2.093,889 




1840 


.37.800 


1850 . 


185.387 


1860 -- 


.351,459 


1870 


434,946 


1880 


452,878 


1890 „. . 


456,952 










UNITED STATES LAND OFFICES. 



UPPER PENINSULA. 



BY GEO. A. ROYCE. 



On the first day of July, 1892, we prepared a list of the vacant government lands 
for the annual report of the honorable Commissioner of General Land Office, show- 
ing that there were 523,411 acres of vacant government land in this district, divided 
among the several counties as follows: 



Comities. Acres. 

Alger 12,118 

Baraga 26,480 

Chippewa 101,235 

Delta .32,063 

Dickinson 7,520 

Gogebic 2,460 

Houghton 40,630 

Iron 21,380 



Coanties. Acres. 

Isle Royal 15,400 

Keweenaw _ 2,170 

Luce 23,800 

Mackinac 15,910 

Marquette 77,530 

Menominee 9,000 

Ontonagon 108,120 

Schoolcraft 27,595 



We do not know the character of these lands except in a general way. and are 
therefore unable to give definite information concerning any particular tract. There 
is a great deal of timber land in this district, pine, hemlock, birch, maple and 
poplar, predominating. Considerable farming is done in this peninsula and we have 
the reputation of growing the finest root crops in the State. Small fruits are eIbo 
a certain crop. Wheat, oats, rye and barley are successfully raised and hay is gen- 
erally an abundant crop. I do not know that stock raising has been followed to 
any extent in this country and it occurs to me that our geographical position would 
render such an enterprise unprofitable, owing to our long and severe winters. It is 
a well known fact, however, that the farmer of this locality is better rewarded for 
his labor than the farmer of almost any other locality. Our remoteness from the 
great markets of the country make it necessary for lumbermen and others doing 
business in the country, to purchase our farm crops at a much higher price than 
can be obtained for the same sort of produce in the more thickly settled districts. 



.20 



Michigan and its Kesources. 



LOWER PENINSULA. 



BY OSCAR PALMER. 



The vacant government lands in this district are subject to Homestead Entry 
only and are approximately as follows, by counties: 



Acres. 

Oscoda '. 43.763 

Crawford 19,402 

Presque Isle 10,117 

Montmorency 22,020 

Alpena 6,500 

Ogemaw 1,600 

Alcona 1,700 

Roscommon 7,685 

Manistee 3,400 

Manitou 2,000 

Gladwin 26,864 

Cheboygan 6,860 

•Otsego 2,500 



Acres. 

Benzie 1,750 

Iosco 19,780 



Lake 

Mason 

Newaygo 

Leelanaw 

Grand Traverse. 

Kalkaska 

Missaukee 

Wexford 

Clare 

Arenac 

Oceana 



1,380 
2,180 

300 
1,700 
1,560 
2,760 
3,180 

380 
4,380 

160 

720 



Total 200,641 



STATE LANDS FOE SALE. 

The following is the latest circular issued by Michigan State Land office, show- 
ing amount of land for sale or entry on January 1, 1893, with general instructions 
and information relative thereto: 

[ Circular No. 1. ] 

MICHIGAN 8TATE LAND OFFICE, AT LANSING. 

ALL LANDS OWNED BY THIS STATE ARE CONTROLLED BY THIS OFFICE. THERE 

ARE NO LOCAL AGENTS. BUSINESS CAN BE DONE BY LETTER. IT IS 

NOT NECESSARY TO COME HERE. 

This office cannot give information about the soil and timber of any particular 
lots, but buyers and settlers are advised to examine for themselves before taking. 



Section 1. To aid in looking up State lands we furnish plats at the legal prices, 
payable in advance, as follows: 

Showing vacant lands, 25 cents per township. 

Same, with streams drawn on, 50 cents per township. 

Showing vacant lands, streams, and names of purchasers of State lands, $1.50 per 



United States Land Offices. 21 

township. In ordering plats, always give the number of the town and range of 
the townships wanted. 

A plat showing all the vacant State lands in any county will be furnished for 
the price named in our land table in section 10 of this circular. 

Cash should be sent with orders by mail. 

SWAMP LANDS. 

Section '2. Prices range from $1.25 to $8.00 per acre, the main body being held 
at $1.25. Only a few townships in the northern part of the State are held at more 
than $1.25 per acre. 

Eighty acres or less of these lands, in one body in the lower peninsula can be 
bought by any person on a first payment of one-quarter of the price down. The 
buyer must make affidavit that he will settle on the land within one year after the 
purchase. Blank affidavits furnished. Ten years' time allowed to pay the balance 
at seven per cent annual interest. Swamp land scrip cannot be used in purchase or 
payment of balance due. 

These lands are subject to homestead entry; any citizen over 21 years old, and 
not already owning 40 acres of land, may homestead not to exceed 80 acres, but he 
may buy an adjoining 80 acres or less on quarter payment down, with ten years' time 
on the balance, with seven per cent annual interest. Blank applications furnished 
at this office. 

In cases where swamp lands are paid for all down, payment will be received in 
money or in swamp land scrip, and there is no limit to the quantity purchased. 

The State constructs wagon roads and ditches in the newly settled portions of 
its territory, making payment for the work in swamp lands, so-called. Thus a 
contractor having finished his i-oad job receives a swamp land credit at this office, 
on which he may draw orders in favor of any person. 

SCHOOL LANDS. 

Section .3. Price $4.00 per acre. 

Where these lands are valuable. for pine, cedar or hemlock timber they mu;t 
be paid for all down. But where they are valuable mainly for farming purposes 
they can be sold on time. 

Persons desiring to buy on time are required to furnish this office with a timber 
affidavit, and by this affidavit the comrhissioner will decide whether the desired 
lots are subject to sale on time, and if so subject to sale on time, first payment of 
not less than one-half the price down will be received. Blank timber affidavits 
furnished. 

On the balance due the time is not limited, and seven per cent yearly interest is 
charged. 

college lands. 

Section 4. These lands have been recently examined by competent men, and 
appraised by the State Board of Agriculture at from $5.00 to $12.50 per acre. 
They may be sold on not less than one-quarter payment down, if they are not 
mainly valuable for the timber thereon. 

Time on balance due not limited. Interest seven per cent. The balance due or any 
part of it may be paid at any time. 

other lands. 

Section 5. University lands are held $12.00 per acre, asset lands at $10.00 per 
acre, asylum lands, salt spring lands, and State building lands at $4.00 per acre, 
the terms being the same as for school lands. 

forfeited lands. 

Section 6. The price of forfeited part-paid lands, now held by the State, is the 
original minimum price per acre, and all improvements and unpaid taxes added 
thereto. 



Michigan and its Kesources. 



APPLICATIONS. 

Section 7. No lands can be withheld from market for the benefit of purchasers 
until the purchase price is received at this office, and all deposits to purchase on part 
payment must be accompanied with an acceptable affidavit as required by law. 

When full payment down is made, no particular form of application is required 
but the applicant should be particular and give full name and address of person 
to whom patent is to issue. 

Sec. 8. For information as to government or railroad land apply to United 
States land office at Marquette, upper peninsula, and Grayling, lower peninsula, 
as this office has no record of such lands entered or unentered. 

SENDING MONEY. . 

Section 9. Money to make any kind of payments at this office can be sent by 
express or mail. 

In sending by express always pay the express charges yourself. 

In sending by mail get a postoffice or express order, or send in registered letter. 
National bank drafts on Detroit or New York will be received as money. Other 
bank drafts will not be received as payments until collected, nor will Canada money 
be received at this office. 

Make all postoffice or express orders or bank drafts payable to " Commissioner 
of the State Land Office." 

In your letter always tell plainly what you want, mention description of land, 
and number of certificate if any; give your name, postoffice address, and put in a 
postage stamp for our answer. 

JOHN G. BERRY, Commissioner, 

Postoffice, Lansing, Michigan. 

NUMBER OF ACRES OF STATE LANDS OF ALL CLASSES SUBJECT TO ENTRY JAN. 1, 1893. 



Acres. 
Swamp Land, per acre $1.25 _ . 101,323.81 
Swamp Land, per acre $2.00 _ _ 9,769.16 

Primary School Land 222,519.78 

Agricultural College Land .._ 103,068.46 



Acres. 

University Land 80.00 

Salt Spring Land 440.00 

Asylum Land 1,482.98 



Total.... |L 438,684.19 



The above totals are being changed by sales, entries and foreitures, continually, 
■consequently cannot remain correct any length, of time. 

Besides the above the following is a list of lands claimed and for sale by the 
railroads and other corporations mentioned below: 

Name of corporation. Com, or agent. Acres. 

Jackson, Lansing tt Saginaw R. R O. M. Barnes, Lansing 270,504 

Marquette. Houghton & Ontonagon R.R....E. W. Allen, Marquette 82,348 

Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette R. R E. W. Cottrell, Detroit 1,255.181 

Chicago & Northwestern R. R. Chas. E. Simmons, Chicago 312,363 

Grand Rapids ct Indiana R. R ...W. O. Hughart, Grand Rapids ... 269,976 

i Saginaw. E. S. ) 
[ 64.470 
Marquette. ) 

( Boston. ] 
Mich. Land & Iron Co. (limited) Horatio Seymour, ■] Madison. }■ 455,498 

( Wis. ) 
Lac LaBelle Harbor Grant- .J. M. Longyear, Marquette 99.700 



United States Land Offices. 



Name of corporation. Com. or agent. Acres. 

Portage Lake & Lake Superior Ship Canal-.J. M. Longyear, Marquette 4.38,440 

St. Mary's Falls Mineral Land Co R. R. Goodell, Houghton 

Ontonagon & Brule River R. R E. Mariner, Milwaukee 

Ft. Wilkins & Copper Harbor Mil. Road W. W. Manning, Marquette 174,000 

For price, terms, etc., of State lands, apply to Commissioner of State Land Office, 
Lansing, Mich. 

For railroad and other lands apply to commissioner or agent of such corporation. 
For information relative to government land, apply to general land office, Wash- 
ington, D. C, or U. S. receiver at Marquette, or Grayling land offices, Michigan. 



MICHIGAN SOILS. 



BY R. C. KEDZIE, AGRICfULTURAL COLLEGE. 



No State has suffered more in reputation by reason of ignorant misrepresen- 
tation than Michigan. At the time of its earliest settlement it was considered 
the lit home of the Indians, wild beasts and malaria. For the white man it 
was uninhabited and unhabitable. In a report made to a religious body regard- 
ing the feasibility of establishing missionary stations to christianize this heathen 
wild, it was stated that the project was impracticable " because only a narrow 
strip along the border of the territory was inhabitable, the interior being a vast 
and impenetrable swamp." The surveyor general of Ohio in 181.5, after speak- 
ing of the "swamps alternating with barren sands which make up the great 
mass of the interior," says: "Taking the country altogether, so far as has been 
explored and to all appearances, together with the information received concern- 
ing the balance, it is so bad there would not be more than one acre out of a 
hundred, if there would be one out of a thousand, that would in any case admit 
of cultivation." 

Such statements only awaken a smile now that the territory has been explored 
and settled; for here was found, not indeed the Eden of old guarded by ttam- 
ing sword, but an earthly paradise clasped in the loving arms of "the vast 
unsalted seas." The nature of the soil and the climatic conditions w^ere found 
to be admirably fitted for all the agricultural products of the temperate zone 
and unsurpassed for most fruits. Soil and climate, after all is said, are the 
enduring conditions of the prosperity of a people. Mines will finally be exhausted, 
forests will disappear, commerce may find new channels, but soil and climate are 
the physical basis of the life of a people; they are a possession for all time. 

/ THE DRAINAGE LAW. 

One cause that led to a marked change in the condition of our State and 
the public estimate in which it was held was the drainage law, whereby each land 
owner was compelled to bear his just part of expense in draining a district, and no 
churl could block the drainage of a neighborhood because he chanced to control 
the outlet. A large area of worthless swamp was thus reclaimed to useful purposes 



Michigan Soils. 25 



and malaria banished. No law since the giving of the ten commandments has pro- 
duced more good and inflicted less evil. 

AGRICULTURAL CAPABILITY OF THESE SOILS. 

The capacity of the soi 1 in the southern counties of the State for the production 
of grains is wide known. Wheat, corn, oats, and barley find here the fitting and 
enduring conditions for growth. The distinctive wheat belt embraces ^the four 
southern tiers of counties. Other counties will produce large crops oi wheat, but 
rne counties named are distinguished in this respect. Characteristic specimens of 
wheat soil are shown in the display of Michigan soils in the Michigan building, 
Nos. 1 to 90. The analyses of these soils is given by labels attached to each jar. 
The remarkable productiveness of some of these soils is shown in No. 1, from 
Lenawee county, a soil that had been in continuous cropping for forty years with- 
out manure, yet it produced 83 bushels of shelled corn to the acre in 1879. The 
production of 40 bushels of wheat to the acre has often been secured in these 
counties. 

SOIL SPECIMENS ON EXHIBITION. 

Thirty-eight different kinds of soils from widely reported localities are placed on 
exhibition with a statement of the chemical composition, the kind of timber naturally 
growing on them and a brief statement of their physical qualities. Attention is 
called to this collection of Michigan soils. They are not unusual and extraordi- 
nary specimens gathered to astonish and mislead, but the average soils of the county 
or locality. The are ordinary and not extraordinary, and hence more valuable for 
presenting the truth. 

SOILS OF THE FRUIT BELT. 

The whole State produces apples of the highest quality, and ''Michigan apples" 
are quoted as the type of excellence in all the States east of the Rocky mountains. 
The special fitness of the southeastern part of the State to raise grapes is shown 
by the name River Raisin, so named because of the abundance of wild grapes that 
grow along its banks. 

But the name "Fruit Belt" has been more particularly applied to the counties 
on our western border, under the lee of Lake Michigan, where the peach has found 
a home and where other fruits flourish. Nine specimens of soil — Nos. 10 to 18 — 
are shown. The soils show wide range in physical appearance and chemical com- 
position. The peach belt is produced by climatic conditions more than by the 
nature of the soil. 

The counties forming "The thumb," south of Saginaw bay and bordering on 
Lake Huron, are distinguished for the excellent quality of their plums. 

THE POTATO DISTRICT. 

While potatoes of excellent quality are raised in all parts of the State, a district 
around Grand Traverse bay, consisting of the counties of Grand Traverse, Benzie, 
Leelanaw and Antrim, is distinguished for its superior quality of potatoes. The 
soil bore a very heavy growth of hardwood trees, the hard maple very abundant. 

4 



26 Michigan and its Resources. 

The soil is open and porous and the tubers are protected from frost when left in 
the ground all winter by reason of the heavy coating of snow which falls before 
the ground is frozen. They may thus be wintered in the hill, and when dug in 
the spring have the same crisp, mealy quality so prized in potatoes first dug from 
the ground in the fall in other localities. These spring dug potatoes may yet 
become an important element of market gardening. Specimens of these soils — Nos. 
19, 20 and 21— are on exhibition. 

THE JACK PINE PLAINS. 

These are extensive tracts of light, sandy soil in the northern central part of the 
lower peninsula bearing a light forest growth of dwarf pines and scarlet oak, with 
a few trees of Norway pine. The Pinus banksiana, or Jack pine, is the leading 
forest growth, and the region is known as the Jack pine plains. The experiment 
station of the college has made some experiments on the Jack pine soil to see what 
could be done by the use of what the soil contains, what could be gathered from 
the atmosphere, and the mineral materials found in abundance in the small lakes 
of this region, to bring such soil into productive eonditions. The raising and plow- 
ing under of green crops and the application of marl have been the principal means 
employed. Three specimens of such soil from Grayling, Crawford County, are 
exhibited. No. 22 is the soil in its natural condition; Nos. 2^ and 24 contain soils 
which have raised crops of sperry, vetch and peas, the same plowed under for 
green manuring; No. 25 is the marl found so abundantly in small lakes and 
swamps. The change in physical properties will be evident on inspection, and the 
chemical changes will appear from the analysis showing how the insoluble mate- 
rials may become soluble by the transforming influence of green manuring. 

SOILS FOR EXCEPTIONAL CROPS. 

While Michigan soils are good for the every-year use of the farmer and fruit 
grower, there are certain soils which are invaluable for the growth of special crops. 
These special productions have of late years come to the front in a way to chal- 
lenge the attention of the whole country. Singularly enough these crops are raised 
on the kind of soil once held to be the opprobrium of our State, '• the Michigan 
swamps." Passing by the enormous crops of timothy hay now raised on tamarack 
swamps, I need only mention celery, cranberries and peppermint, which are now 
grown on this mucky soil in perfection. Specimens of the soil suited to each of 
these crops and their analysis are exhibited for the information of the public. No. 
26 is a sample of muck contributed by the Dunkley Celery Co., of Kalamazoo, on 
which is raised celery of such excellence that Kalamazoo celery has acquired a 
national reputation. No. 27 is muck from the celery plantation of Geo. Hancock, 
of Grand Haven, whose celery has a good reputation among the lovers of this 
delicious vegetable. No. 28 is muck sent by the Newberry Celery and Improvement 
Co., of Newberry, Luce county. The director of the Newberry company writes: 
"We ship you this day by express a sample of soil taken from our garden for the 
purpose of having it placed on exhibition at the World's Fair with other soils of 
this State. On this soil we have produced the finest celery grown in the State. 
The celery grown here has a fine nutty flavor unknown to the celery grown in the 



Michigan Soils. 27 



southern part of the State. We have also grown large crops of grain and hay on 
this land. Two years ago we seeded one and a half acres to spring rye, which 
yielded seventy bushels of fine plump grain. From this one and one-half acres we 
cut three and one-half tons of hay. The soil is from sixteen feet to unknown depth. 
There are thousands of acres of the same character of soil in our vicinity. We 
would also say that during the eight years we have been growing celery here we 
have not had a failure of a crop." 

PEPPERMINT LANDS. 

I wrote to a gentleman in the peppermint district asking for a specimen of the 
soil for raising peppermint, and not receiving the specimen, I wrote again and 
received the following reply: " Your first communication was referred to 

Mr. , of this town, who is the largest mint raiser in the State, and who 

promised me he would forward the soil desired, but I saw him this morning and 
he said the ground was so frozen he could not get it without being to greater 
expense than he wished to incur. The facts are he does not want published to 
the world the benefits of reclaiming marsh lands, for that is all there is of it. Any 
marsh land that can be drained so it can be worked and still hold moisture enough 
to carry the crop through is good enough mint soil. Moisture is the great secret. 
It must have moisture enough to retain the leaves until it is in bloom, for all of 
the oil is in the leaves." 

Evidently Mr. has a good thing, and is willing to keep it. 

CRANBEREY SOIL. 

I also wrote to a successful grower of cranberries in St. Joseph for a specimen 
of cranberry soil, but he was in the south and failed to get my letter in time. 
Some time ago I made an analysis of his cranberry soil and also of some neigh- 
boring soil that would not raise the fruit. The most marked difference in these 
soils was that the barren soil was very acid, while the fruitful soil was neutral to 
litmus paper. This I find to be the most common distinction between fertile and 
barren muck. All these celery soils in the fresh state were entirely free from acid. 
All the muck lands in the State, when properly drained, and in a suitable physi- 
cal condition, and free from acid, may produce large crops of cranberries, mint and 
celery. Muck is a mine for the skillful cultivator. 

There is nothing in either the soil or the climate, or other natural advantages of 
Michigan, which exempts those who settle in the State from the common conditions 
of success in every part of the world. If a man without means chooses to lead an 
idle and thriftless life, he can starve to death here as soon as anywhere else. But 
there is no portion of the Union, either in the states or territories, which offers 
larger encouragement to industry and economy. The laborer, seeking employment 
with an honest desire to earn a living, and willing to render a fair day's work for 
a fair day's wages, can always, under ordinary business conditions, find something 
to do for which he will be well paid. A few years of labor and frugality, in which 
steadiness and growing experience will, as in every other pursuit, enhance from 
year to year the value and compensation of his services, will ensure savings enough 
to buy land. If he has chosen one of the newer sections of the State for his resi- 
dence he may readily secure a farm in the neighborhood to which he has become 



28 Michigan and its Kesoukces. 

accustomed, at low prices and on easy terms, and the same qualities which gave 
him a start will establish his prosperity and independence on a sure and enduring 
basis. 

It is not alone the work of the farm that affords openings to labor. The mines, 
furnaces, lumber camps, mills, manufactories, and mechanic arts of the State, con- 
tinually increasing in number and variety, furnish a growing and diversified 
demand for every kind of employment that a man can pursue either with his head 
or his hands. And there is no region on earth where brains and muscle can work 
more advantageously together. 



DIVERSITY OF LABOR. 



The range of labor in Michigan is great. Some branches of industry are not found 
such as the raising of oranges and bananas, the manufacture of whisky (except- 
ing possibly moonshiners) or digging for diamonds. But there is a great diversity 
of labor and nearly every kind of industry is carried on. One peculiarity is notice- 
able. Labor is performed on the most approved plans. The best of machinery and 
appliances are used. This is accounted for by the fact that Michigan's popula- 
tion is drawn from the most enterprising element of other states. Drones stay in 
the old states, enterprising young men seek new fields. Michigan as a manufact- 
uring state employs the best skill and enterprise to be found and the results very 
clearly establish the wisdom of this plan. The cost of power is more in Michigan 
than in the coal regions of Ohio and Pennsylvania, but much less than in the western 
states. There is plenty of coal in Michigan, but water transportation makes the 
cost of fuel reasonable. Taken with the fact that the State has an abundant supply 
of wood for fuel for family purposes, there is but little anxiety about the question 
of supply. Lumber is cheap, land is cheap, and there is no reason why labor in 
Michigan cannot result in comfortable homes. An order for any manufactured 
article excepting glass can be filled in Michigan by Michigan products. 

Ini'farming success follows intelligent labor as surely as in any state. There are 
vast tracts of land in the State patiently awaiting the manipulation of intelligent 
labor. Land easily accessible and close to good markets. Unlike the description of 
a part of the wilds of West Virginia by a fourth of July orator, who said " there 
were places in West Virginia that the foot of man had never trod and the eye of 
God had never seen," Michigan is peculiarly favored in location, as are nearly all 
peninsulas. The labor of the farmer has paid above the average. Extremes of wet 
and dry weather, heat, cold and wind, are not common. Taking all things into 
consideration labor is fairly remunerated. Years to come, with transportation for 
all production, there can be no doubt of employment in Michigan. 



FARMING. 



Farming is a much abused industry. There are a very large number of people 
styled farmers and who claim to be farmers, but few real farmers. A real farmer, 
possessing the requisite qualilicaions, always succeeds. 

What is a farmer? "One who cultivates land" (Webster). |,The act of cultivat- 
ing land in this connection would imply, of course, proper, full, correct cultivation ; 
one who understands the soil; how, when, where, and what to plant; how to culti- 
vate and take care of, to cure and harvest crops; to do all things pertaining to the 
business in the proper way at the proper time. 

This involves a liberal stock of knowledge and adaptability to the work. A man 
who never saw a farm buys some land, a team, some tools, seed, etc., moves to a 
farm and is immediately rated as a farmer. Should he trade his farm for a black- 
smith shop and take charge would that act make him a blacksmith? He opens a 
select school, would that act make him competent to teach? Should he buy a 
physician's practice would that act make him competent to practice medicine? 

There is much to learn in connection with farming. Many follow the business 
through life and never learn. Farmers may be classed under three heads: First, 
those who know nothing of the business; second, habitual and instinctive farmers; 
third, scientific farmers. The first fail, and generally become politicians, and next 
calamity howlers. Everything goes wrong. It is too dry, or too wet, too hot or too 
cold, frost always kills his fruit, he cannot get a price for anything ani has to pay 
too much for everything he buys. The second class hold their own, and the rise of the 
price of land sometimes makes them wealthy. The third class are the successful 
ones. Their farms wear a look of prosperity and con:ifort. Crops are good, stock 
well fed and well bred, buildings are good and homes comfortable, fences in good 
order, no run down land, no mortgages. He makes a compost heap and does not 
allow the alkalies to eat up the acids. He knows what kind of fertilizer his weak 
land needs. While number one is talking politics and complaining he is analyzing 
his soil and fertilizers. He succeeds, and ought to. 

One great mistake made by farmers is undertaking to farm on 40 acres. It is too 
little land for general farming. The woodland must be kept, the garden is neces- 
sary. The cows and horses necessary for farming 40 acres would do for 80; fencing 
for 40 is nearly as much as for 80, if properly divided. If 40 acres will support a 
family the products of the surplus over 40 is clear. One hundred and sixty acres 
is not too much for a small farm. At 810 per acre (and thousands of acres can be 



Farming. 3 1 

bought for less) 160 acres will cost S1.600, 40 acres will cost $400, Sl,200 difference. 
If the farm is workable the Sl.GOO will be paid with more ease than $400 on 40 
acres. (The same proportions will not hold good indefinitely.) It does not pay to 
hold unproductive land except timber land. Very many think the vacant lands are 
all State lands. This is not correct. There are more vacant lands owned by indi- 
viduals and corporations than by the State, which can be bought cheap, and even 
improved land can be bought at reasonable rates. It is said the average Michigan 
man will sell anything but his family. 



HORTICULTURAL RESOURCES OF MICHIGAN. 



BY L. R. TAFT, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



Ten years ago when the name of our State was mentioned to the people of some 
of her sister states, it was generally associated in the mind of the listener with 
some of the croi)s for the raising of which her fame is world wide. Desirable as 
may have been her reputation for the raising of corn, oats, wheat, wool and other 
agricultural products, with which the people not only of this but of foreign coun- 
tries have been fed and clothed, the renown obtained from her Michigan apples 
was far greater. Today, although no other state can equal her in the size, color and 
quality of this the most important of all fruits, the increased attention given to the 
growing of peaches, plums and grapes has forced the apple to give up some of its 
glory in the race for fame. 

Moreover, proud as Michigan horticulturists are of the reputation so nobly won 
and so richly deserved for the production of luscious fruits, they are not content 
with this, but have pushed forward in other lines, and today the renown of Kala- 
mazoo celery and Grand Rapids lettuce has extended until it has reached the 
Atlantic shore on the east and has surmounted the summits of the Rockies on the 
west. 

The State owes its success in these lines to three things: First, skill and indus- 
try of her horticulturists; second, the advantageous location with large bodies of 
water upon three sides; third, the possession of a variety of soils most of which 
are particularly adapted to horticulture and which are arranged in a gentle undu- 
lating manner that is favorable to both water and air drainage. 

Another thing that has been of inestimable benefit in stimulating the people in 
horticviltural work is the excellent market facilities enjoyed. 

Not only do the railroads radiate to all parts of the country, but being sur- 
rounded upon three sides by the great lakes, very cheap water rates can be 
secured. Not only do Detroit, Grand Rapids. Saginaw, and hundreds of other 
thriving cities stretch out their hands to be fed, but Michigan grapes, peaches, 
plums, strawberries, etc., find a ready market in all of the adjoining states. From 
at least a dozen harbors upon the lake shores large steamers laden to their gun- 
wales with fruit and vegetables make daily trips to Chicago and Milwaukee, from 
which points the surplus is distributed through the northwest. While the temper- 



Horticultural Resources of Michigan. 33 

ing influence of Lake Michigan upon the cold southwest and westerly winds makes 
a narrow strip along its shore particularly adapted to the growing of some of the 
more tender fruits, a large part of the land in the counties that make up the 
six southern tiers can be used to advantage for fruit growing. Nearly, if not all, 
the counties in the southern peninsula have land that will grow all of the hardier 
fruits. The northern peninsula seems well adapted to growing currants, goose- 
berries, raspberries, strawberries, and other small fruits. The large fruits also 
seem to thrive in properly selected locations. 

THE STRAWBERRY. 

Although the demand for this fruit has repeatedly doubled it has never out- 
stripped the supply. A few years ago a single crate would perhaps cause a glut of 
the market, in a small town, where now a wagon load can be disposed of readily. 
There are a few localities in the State where this fruit, if given a well drained soil 
and proper care, will not thrive. While it seems to do best upon a rich sandy soil, 
almost any soil from a light sand to a heavy clay can be used for growing it. As 
usually grown the plants are set about eighteen inches apart, in rows from three 
and one-half to four feet wide. The plants are thoroughly cultivated the first sea- 
son and are allowed to form matted rows covering about one-half of the ground 
and leaving rows for the pickers to work in. 

If large and fine fruit will bring an extra price it will often pay to layer a few 
of the plants and remove all runners that form later in the season. As soon as 
the runners begin to form the stronger ones are selected and are layered over a 
strip so that they will stand eight or ten inches apart. If the others are nipped 
off as soon as they appear the entire vigor of the plant will be used in forming 
strong crowns. In this way, the stronger runners can be selected and as they will 
have all of the food and moisture, instead of sharing it with hundreds of other 
plants, the growth secured will be able to develop a large number of plants and 
fruit. Particularly if the season is a dry one the crop will equal that secured from 
a thick matted row, and the price obtained for the fruit will be much more than 
could be secured for fruit grown in any other way. 

Frequently, too, it might happen that in case there is a glut in the market the 
choice fruit can be sold at a satisfactory price while the others will be wasted. 

Although most varieties do best in matted rows, others give good returns when 
grown in hills. For field culture these are generally planted about ^one by two and 
one-half feet, and all runners are cut off that start during the season. In the 
home garden, if placed in beds with five rows one foot apart each way and a nar- 
row walk between the beds, a large quantity of fruit can be grown upon a very small 
area. Particularly when grown upon heavy soils a good mulch of marsh hay, straw 
or similar material is applied in the fall as soon as the ground has frozen. While 
the depth over the plants should not be much more than an inch, a considerable 
greater depth may be applied between the rows. This will prevent the alternate 
freezing and thawing and the consequent breaking of the roots and heaving of the 
plants. As spring opens the mulch should be removed from over the plants. It 
may be left to cover the ground between the rows with a cultivator. Whether 
mulched in the winter or not, something of the kind is desirable during the fruit- 
ing season as it serves to keep the sand from washing upon the plants and to hold 
5 



34 Michigan and its Eesources. 

the moisture and thus prevent the drying of the plants in time of drouth. Th& 
spring set plants bear a full crop the following summer. As a rule the plantation 
is then freed from grass and weeds and retained for another year. 

As a rule girls and women are preferred as pickers to boys as better work is 
done by them. Various methods of managing the pickers and keeping account of 
the amount picked are in use. 

Perhaps the most common method is to furnish each picker with a light carrier 
holding four one quart boxes. He is then started upon a row and gathers the 
berries, cutting each of the stems off close to the hulls with the thumb nail. When 
the boxes are full, the pickers generally carry them to the packing shed where 
they receive a ticket for the four quarts. 

A better way, however, and one that is in use by several large growers, is to 
have one or more reliable pickers whose business it is to gather up the boxes as 
they are filled and deliver them to the packer. 

In this way much of the confusion and loss of place by the pickers, that is so 
common when the other plan is used, is prevented. 

When sold in a fastidious market the berries are generally assorted into two or 
three grades, only the large and perfect berries being placed in the first class. If 
the boxes are nicely packed, with the upper layer faced, they will bring consider- 
ably more than berries put up in a careless manner. 

While the supply for all of the villages and small cities is generally grown in the 
immediate vicinity, some localities have large areas devoted to the raising of straw- 
berries for shipment to other states. 

The most extensive plantations are in the vicinity of St. Joseph and Benton 
Harbor, although many are grown in Van Buren, Allegan, Ottawa, Kent and 
Muskegon counties. 

RASPBERRIES AND BLACKBERRIES. 

Closely following the strawberry in season come the raspberry, red and black, 
and the blackberry. Not only is there a large local demand in the larger villages 
and cities, but they are shipped by rail and boat to Chicago and Milwaukee in 
large quantities. 

In several sections of the State, where these fruits thrive exceptionally well, 
there are large evaporators, and plantations of from 30 to 50 acres are grown to 
supply them. 

When placed upon well drained and moderately rich soil the crop is almost a 
sure one. For evaporating purposes the Ohio blackberry is generally grown, while 
the Gregg is the favorite for market^purposes. The early varieties of blackberry 
are most profitable, and the Early Harvest, with slight winter protection, is pre- 
ferred to all other kinds by growers in the vicinity of Benton Harbor where from 
20 to 40 acres are devoted to this one variety by several planters. 

CURRANTS AND GOOSEBERRIES. 

These fruits seem at home and consequently thrive in all sections of Michigan. 
particularly in the southern and western portions. Large areas are grown for market 
purposes and they prove very remunerative crops. The Chicago market in partic- 



Horticultural Resources of Michigan. 35 

ular takes immense quantities of both fruits, and as they only thrive in the cooler 
portions of the country there is little or no opposition from the south. 

While the Downing is the variety of gooseberry most commonly grown, the Industry 
and other large sorts of European origin can be grown with good success in many 
parts of the State where the soil is deep, cool and moist. 

In some localities the currant borer has been so destructive to the cherry and 
similar varieties that they are little planted for market purposes, the principal 
reliance being upon the Victoria and Red Dutch. 

The demand for white currant is comparatively small and the black varieties 
are but little grown. 

CRANBERRIES. 

Within the past ten years the interest in this fruit has rapidly increased, and it 
is likely that within a short time the home grown berries will supply the demand. 
There are thousands of acres of marsh land in the State that are well adapted to 
this crop and at the present prices it will be a profitable one. The largest planta- 
tion is the Comings marsh, in Berrien county, near St. Joseph. 

THE NURSERY INDUSTRY. 

The propagation of fruit trees in Michigan dates back to the time of the early 
French settlements, and although many of the old apple and pear trees that are 
still growing near several of the old French towns and Indian villages were brought 
from Montreal, others were grown from seed. 

The extent to which fruit, both large and small, is grown, requires annually many 
thousand trees for the planting of new orchards, and many of these are the prod- 
uct of Michigan nurseries. 

Nearly every county in the southern half of the State has several nurseries and 
many of the firms are doing an extensive business. Along the lake shore counties 
in the peach district are a large number of nurseries which are principally devoted 
to the growing of peach trees for local planting. From 1.50 to 200 acres are used 
in these sections. 

MARKET GARDENING. 

While the truck farmer grows but two or three kinds of vegetables and thes'^ 
on a large scale, the market gardener cultivates a full variety of and endeavors, by 
careful selection of varieties, to prolong the season. His products are sold to 
market men, or retailed from the wagon. Our large manufacturing towns 
and cities consume immense quantities of fresh vegetables, and good prices can 
generally be obtained. Not only is the climate adapted to the growing of a great 
variety of vegetables, but light sandy loam soil suitable for the purpose can be 
found in most localities. In addition to the sale of the vegetables, most gar- 
deners are able to add to their income by the sale of vegetable plants. The 
canning and pickling factories of the State use immense quantities of tomatoes, 
and the growing of sweet corn, tomatoes and seeds, particularly of beans, give 
employment to thousands of men. Cabbages have been produced in Muskegon 
county weighing 67 pounds per head and of first quality. 



"36 Michigan and its Resources. 

the potato, 

while grown successfully and to a considerable extent in all parts of the State, 
is to the northern half of the lower peninsula the leading money crop of the 
farmer. Upon soil that will not produce remunerative grain crops and where the 
late springs and early fall frosts render the corn an uncertain crop, the potato 
thrives. Not only is the yield as a rule satisfactory but the tubers are large, 
smooth and of exceedingly fine quality. There has been little or no loss from 
potato rot and blight and the Colorado beetle is each year becoming less trouble- 
some. The acreage is each year increasing and from several small railroad stations 
.50,000 to 150,000 bushels are shipped annually. In the loose sandy loam soil, 
machinery can be used for planting, cultivating and harvesting, and the cost of 
production thus reduced to the minimum while their superior flavor and keeping 
■ qualities place them at the top of the market. 

CELERY. 

Few crops have done more to keep our State in the minds of the people of the 
distant, as well as the neighboring states, than the celery from Kalamazoo and 
other sections. 

It is now some fifteen years since the first celery was shipped, but it is only 
within the last ten years that the business began to take on its present mam- 
moth proportions. Kalamazoo has within a radius of four miles 3,000 acres of 
marsh land adapted to this crop. The land is first drained by means of open 
ditches, after which it is plowed and subdued. 

Manures are used in large quantities as even upon this rich soil they cannot be 
dispensed with. Seed for the first crop is sown either in hot beds or greenhouses 
early in March, the plants are set out in May and the crop harvested in July. A sec- 
ond crop is set out in June to be harvested in August, while plants for winter use are 
set the last of July or the first of August. The crops for summer use are bleached 
with boards or with paper, while that for winter use is hilled up with earth. 

In Kalamazoo alone there are some thirty firms engaged in shipping celery, 
and the industry of growing the crop gives employment to 2,000 men. The daily 
shipments amount to forty or fifty tons in the heighth of the season. Land 
equally suited to the crop is found in hundreds of other places in the State and 
the marshes at Kalamazoo, Tecumseh and Durand will undoubtedly find strong 
competition. 

WINTER FORCING OF LETTUCE. 

Until recently lettuce has been known as a spring and summer salad crop, and 
was but sparingly grown for winter use, and then only in hot beds or in some 
spare greenhouse as a catch crop by the florists. Some six or eight years ago the 
growing of winter lettuce as a commercial greenhouse crop was begun. By care- 
ful selection a variety well adapted to the purpose was obtained, which is now 
used exclusively by the growers of Grand Rapids and has become known all over 
the country as the " Grand Rapids variety of lettuce." This lettuce was so attract- 
ive in appearance that a demand at once sprang up for it, and as it was easily 
grown it produced a very profitable crop. The business soon became quite exten- 



Horticultural Eesources of Michigan. 37 

sive. Many erected houses and went into the business of lettuce growing. The 
Grand Rapids lettuce soon obtained a reputation all through the neighboring 
states, and regular shipments were made to Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cleve- 
land, Columbus, Cincinnati and other large cities, and although the prices secured 
were considerably higher than lettuce from local growers could be obtained for, 
the demand could not be supplied. While some of the houses are three-quarters 
span, the common even span has for the most part been used in the greenhouses 
erected for lettuce growing. The houses are sometimes heated by steam and 
hot water, but the use of the hot air flue is more common. The furnaces are 
placed at the end of each house, or if they are long a furnace is constructed 
at both ends. Flues built of brick or of vitrified pipe lead from these furnaces 
through the house and back, passing up as a chimney over the furnace. Three 
crops are taken off during the winter and as the variety grown can be planted 
quite closely the profits are very satisfactory. The prospects for this industry 
are very flattering. 

TRUCK FARMING. 

In certain localities of the State where climatic and soil conditions are favorable 
and whence there is ready communication with large cities, this new industry is a 
favorite. ' 

The term applies to the growing of one or more vegetable crops upon a large 
scale and their shipment to market or wholesale dealers. If the crops are properly 
handled it can at once be seen that the large trucker can grow larger and better 
crops and can place them on the market at a lower price than the average small 
grower. Aside from the celery and potatoes which have been mentioned above the 
principal truck crops grown in Michigan are onions, tomatoes and melons. 

The onion is now grown in large quantities on swamp land in various parts of 
the State. Upon this soil large yields are obtained with little expense for labor 
and nothing at all for fertilizers, while there is little danger of injury from drouth. 
It is also largely grown upon the uplands, and the crops thus obtained, on account 
of their superior flavor and keeping qualities, bring a much higher price than those 
grown upon the low land. 

In localities within easy reach of market the tomato is generally found to be 
profitable by trucksters, and immense quantities are grown, particularly in Berrien 
county. They require a rich, but warm and early soil, and with good selection of 
varieties and well grown plants, but little skill is required to grow them. 

In a general way the same can be said of melon growing. The water-melon is 
not very largely grown, but the musk-melon is a profitable crop and is quite 
largely grown by trucksters, especially in the vicinity of Benton Harbor. 

COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE. 

Where ten years ago one would seldom see flower beds in the yards or plants in 
the windows the reverse is now the rule, and this gives to the florist a large sale 
of bedding and house plants. The principal increase in the business of the florist 
has been in the sale of cut flowers for the adornment of the person, the table or 
the parlor. 



88 Michigan and its Resources. 

Nearly every large town has its florist, and in the cities particularly the busi- 
ness is an excellent one. In addition to supplying the local demand for plants 
and flowers, several firms have a large shipping trade in both, the flowers being 
for the most part sent to commission merchants in Chicago and the plants to 
florists in all parts of the country. 



4 

MICHIGAN AS A FRUIT GROWING STATE. 



BY J. G. RAMSDELL. 



The soil, topography and climate of the lower peninsula of Michigan is well 
adapted to the growing of every variety of orchard and garden fruit that can be 
grown north of the thirty-seventh parallel, and its marketing facilities are unequaled. 
Every variety of apples, pears, plums and cherries can be successfully grown 
upon nearly every farm, and the peach is a safe and profitable crop on all of 
the high rolling lands lying within thirty miles of the eastern shore of Lake 
Michigan. Grapes do well on the hillsides everywhere, and all varieties of berries 
yield large annual crops. Successful and profitable fruit growing depends princi- 
pally upon four conditions: First, a soil naturally adapted to a strong and health- 
ful growth of trees and plants, for the manuring of orchards is generally difficult 
and always expensive. Second, topography that will admit of free and rapid atmos- 
pheric drainage in clear cold weather, and thus aid the general climate in pro- 
tecting trees and fruit from extreme freezing in winter and from damaging ver- 
nal and autumnal frosts during the blossoming and fruiting season. Third, a 
climate by which the extreme heat and blasting winds of summer, and the extreme 
cold and violent storms of winter are tempered to harmless conditions, for it is 
not the general average of heat in summer, or the general average of cold in 
winter that the orchardists have to consider, but the extremes of heat that blast 
and the extremes of cold that destroy, that he has to fear. Fourth, a ready 
and convenient market with cheajj and rapid transportation. All these conditions 
are more completely fulfilled in the soil, topography, climate and market facilities 
of lower Michigan than in any other territory of equal extent in the union of 
states. 

COMPOSITION OF SOIL. 

The inorganic substances which must exist in a soil to make it naturally fertile 
— that is fertile without manuring — are silica, alumina, lime, magnesia, oxide of iron, 
oxide of magnesia, potash, soda, chlorine, sulphuric acid and carbonic acid, either 
free or combined with one another, or with other substances. A soil contain- 
ing these ingredients with from six to ten per cent of organic matter will remain 
permanently fertile until exhausting crops require the replacement of some of 
these ingredients. The rocks from which the soil of the lower peninsula of 



40 Michigan and its Resources. 

Michigan is derived furnish all these inorganic substances in great abundance, 
and the decomposition of ages of forest growth has furnished the needed supply 
of organic matter. 

At some period in the geological history of this continent there was a great 
uplifting in the Lake Superior region. The trap and granite underlying the azoic 
formation was forced up through all the superincumbent strata of rocks, upturn- 
ing the broken edges to the surface. During the subsequent glacial period these 
strata were broken, ground and pulverized into drift material and spread over 
lower Michigan to a great depth, varying from six hundred feet in the northern 
to fifty feet or more in the southern part. 

The rock strata thus ground up and commingled are composed of the following 
geological formations: Trap and granite in every variety of composition, the azoic 
formation; the Lake Superior or Potsdam sandstone, highly impregnated with per- 
oxide of iron; the Trenton group, a siliceous limestone; the Hudson river group, 
an argillaceous limestone abounding in fossils; the Clinton group, an argillaceous 
calcareous limestone; the Niagara group, a crystalline magnesian limestone, rich in 
fossils; the Onondaga salt group, rich in chloride of sodium (salt) and sulphate of 
lime (gypsum); the Helderberg group, a limestone composed largely of fossil coral; 
the Hamilton group, a bituminous limestone; and the Huron group, a dark bitum- 
inous clayey shale. 

Those familiar with the mineral composition of the several rock formations 
above named will readily see the exti'aordinary richness in plant-feeding elements 
of a soil composed of the mingled constituents of these rocks. The feldspar and 
mica of the trap and granite furnish an abundance of potash; the fossil remains 
of the limestone rocks, an abundance of phosphates; the salt and gypsum of the 
Onondaga salt group, an abundance of these materials. The ferrugineous sandstone 
of the Potsdam group furnishes the iron oxide necessary to healthy growth and 
high color of fruit and foliage; the mica, feldspar and ai'gillaceous limestones and 
shales furnish sufficient alumina to give the proper adhesiveness to the soil, and 
the limestone siliceous rocks, amply supply those materials. The dense forests of 
deciduous timber that originally covered the most of the State, the magnificent 
growth of oak, ash, maple and elm which composed those forests, give abundant 
evidence of the fertility of the soil in the elements of vegetable growth and con- 
firm the conclusions which science maintains. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The lower peninsula is bordered on the west, north, and east by lakes Michigan, 
Huron, St. Clair and Erie. The watershed that divides the streams flowing into 
these lakes rises to the height of 600 feet above the lakes in Hillsdale county in 
the southern part, falling gradually northward to less than 100 feet between the 
tributaries of the Saginaw river and the Grand in Gratiot county, then gradually 
rising northward until it reaches an elevation of over 1,000 feet in Otsego county. 
The largest streams, such as the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon and 
Manistee, on the west, and the Saginaw, Huron and Raisin on the east, take their 
rise in the higher lands and form broad fertile valleys along their course. The 
divides between these rivers and their tributaries form gently rolling uplands, 
without either extended plains or precipitous hills. On the higher plateau which 



Michigan as a Fruit Growing State. 41 



forms the watershed between the great lakes, numerous lakes abound varying from 
a few acres to many square miles in extent. The natural drainage of the 
whole is complete. The effect of the topography of lower Michigan upon the 
growing of fruit will be considered with the 

CLIMATE. 

Lake Michigan has an average depth of 1,000 feet, an average width of sixty miles, 
and contains an area of 2.3,150 square miles. This vast body of water lying along 
the west and northwest border forms a thermal regulator, absorbing the heat of 
summer and gradually yielding it up again to temper the cold of winter, thus 
avoiding the extremes of heat and cold that damage foliage in summer and 
injure buds and trees in winter. 

The prevailing winds in winter are west and northwest. These winds, passing 
over the open water of Lake Michigan in winter are raised in temperature from 
ten to thirty degrees; so ,that storms that register from twenty to thirty degrees 
below zero on the western shore of the lake seldom fall to zero on its Michigan 
border. 

The amount of heat which a gallon of water will absorb and then give off again 
when surrounded by a lower temperature is immense. Take a gallon of water, 
heat it to the boiling point, put it in a common jug, and place it under the robes 
in a sleigh, and it will keep the feet comfortably warm for a whole day's journey 
with the thermometer at zero. Such is precisely the effect of Lake Michigan, lees 
in degree but infinitely greater in amount. Warmed up by the summer's heat of 
sun and wind, as the air over the water falls below it in temperature, the water 
yields up a portion of its heat in constantly ascending vapor which these westerly 
winds bring directly to the Michigan shore, softening almost past credibility its 
climate as far north as the forty-fifth parallel. In this respect the great lake seems 
almost endowed with consciousness; the colder the weather the greater its effort 
to temper the air. Go out in a still clear morning with the thermometer at zero 
and look out upon the lake; you will see a dense column of vapor rising from its 
surface, as though all the fires of Pluto were seething at its bottom. This vapor is 
wafted over the land and meeting with the colder upper air is condensed and falls 
in snowflakes so clean and pure and white that nature furnishes no object with 
which to compare them. This evaporation is going on constantly during the winter 
season, giving a great depth of snow, particularly in the northern porti(jn, where 
the depth is so great that the ground is wholly protected from freezing. 

The same causes that temper the winter, acting inversely, also temper the heat 
of summer. The water having cooled down to near the freezing point during the 
winter, absorbs the excessive heat of summer, so that those blighting winds which 
so often sear and destroy the foliage of trees and plants in other states are unfelt 
in this. 

While the hydrographic advantages of Michigan regulate and temper its general 
climate, its favorable toijography is a valuable element in successful orcharding. 
Along the whole eastern shore of Lake Michigan, for at least ten miles inland, 
and around Grand Traverse bay, for a distance varying from three to five miles, 
damaging frosts either in spring or fall seldom occur, and the same is true upon the 
hillsides and ridges of the rolling lands of the interior. The philosophy of this is 



42 Michigan and its Resources. 



so simple and yet so little understood that yn explanation here will not be out of 
place. 

Every one has observed that ordinary frosts vary greatly in their severity in the 
same neighborhood, low places, level lands, and basins or depressions, suffering 
more injury than sidehills, knolls and ridges. On a clear, still night heat radiates 
from the surface of the earth into space. As this radiation goes on the surface 
grows colder and colder. If level the air remains stationary and falls in temperature 
with the surface of the earth. At first the moisture of the air is condensed and 
foims dew; at 32° Fahrenheit it is crystalized into hoar frost; if it sinks still lower the 
sap of tender plants is frozen, and expanding bursts or injures the cells and kills the 
plants. Cold air is heavier than warm air, and the colder it gets the heavier it 
grows. On hillsides, knolls and ridges, as radiation cools the surface the air becomes 
heavier and runs down the hill to the valley or plain below and warmer air takes 
its place; this in its turn grows dense and passes down, forming a current of air 
down the hill, leaving none of it still long enough to reach 'the freezing point. If 
the valley is inclosed so as to foim a basin, the cold air draining into it may till 
it up so that the frost will reach up the hillside to the level of the dam which 
incloses it. But where the drainage reaches a body of water, heat escaping from 
the water reheats the air. causing it to rise and flow back again to take the place 
of that which is flowing down the hill. In the cold, still nights of winter the dif- 
ference in temperature between hillsides and inclosed basins and level land is 
surprising. 

On February 9, 1865, the coldest night ever known in the Grand Traverse region, 
Messrs. Avery and Marshall of Old Mission found a difference of twenty-two degrees 
in less than 100 feet elevation; and Messrs. Parmely & Brinkman eleven degrees in 
fourteen feet elevation. These tests were, however, in places where the drainage was 
obstructed by ridges across the line of drainage forming basins. Where the valley 
or hillside opens without obstruction to the bay or lakes, the difference is not so great. 
I found on my farm which descends rapidly towards Grand Traverse bay, a differ- 
ence of ten degrees to one hundred feet elevation on the same night of the Old 
Mission test. 

When we consider how close the margin is between absolute exemption from 
injury and the total destruction of the tender varieties of fruit trees by freezing, 
we can see how important is this matter of atmospheric drainage. With twelve 
degrees peach buds are comjjaratively safe; at fifteen degrees the buds are pretty 
8ure to be killed, and the trees are in danger; and at twenty-two degrees destruc- 
tion of the tree is almost certain. A hundred feet elevation, with open drainage 
to lower levels, may determine the difference between a crop of fruit and a ruined 
orchard; and in inclosed valleys or basins twenty feet may do the same. 

This simple matter was not understood in the early planting of orchards in this 
State. For ease of cultivation and convenience in gathering the fruit, level lands 
were selected for orcharding, to the great disappointment and loss of the owners. 

MARKETS. 

A glance at the map of Michigan and the west is all that is necessary to show 
its great advantage in resjject to markets. At the very gates of Chicago, the 
greatest distributing fruit point in the world, with both water and rail transporta- 



Michigan as a Fruit Growing State. 43 

tion to the vast fiuitlegs region of the west and north with its unlimited 
demand, jj;ives to Michigan fruit growers market advantages superior to the fruit 
growers of any otlier state. 

CHARACTER OF FRUIT. 

The fruits grown in Michigan, while less in size than the same varieties grown 
in the Mississippi valley and on the Pacilic coast, are firmer in texture, more spirited 
and pronounced in flavor, higher colored, fairer, and of greater specific gravity, and 
their keeping qvialities, especially apples, surpass all other districts. My peach 
orchard is on Grand Traverse bay, elevated 100 feet above its surface, in latitude 
44^ ii' . I had a heavy crop last summer, and today, March 21, 1893, notwithstanding 
the severity of the past winter, the buds are uninjured and the promise for a heavy 
crop again this year is certain. 



PEPPERMINT AND OTHER ESSENTIAL OILS. 



BY GEO, W. OSBORN, OF MENDON, PRESIDENT OF THE CENTRAL MINT GROWERS' 
CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION. 



Michigan produces annually more peppermint oil than all the other states com- 
bined, and St. Joseph county, in which it was first successfully produced com- 
mercially in this State, still furnishes something more than half of Michigan's 
annual product. Next in order of their product come Kalamazoo. Wayne. Van 
Buren, Allegan and Cass, and peppermint is raised and stilled to a small extent 
in several other counties. 

Peppermint was first cultivated and distilled in Michigan in about 1835, on 
White Pigeon Prairie, township of Florence, St. Joseph county, by a Mr. Sawyer, 
but for some reason the venture was unprofitable and was abandoned. Pepper- 
mint oil was first successfully produced commercially in 1842, by Messrs. John 
Smith and Harrison Ranney, who had had experience in the business in Wayne 
county, N. Y., on the farm of the late Norman Roys, in the same township of 
Florence. The sandy loam of the burr oak plains seemed particularly adapted 
to its growth. That farm and township were soon covered, the business extended 
to the townships of Lockport, Nottawa, Park and Mendon, so that by 1850 the 
yearly product of peppermint in St. Joseph county alone was estimated at 
100,000 to 150,000 pounds — an amount exceeding the production of all the rest of 
the world at that time. These details for the early history of this industry I 
get from Mr. George Roys, who was born in Florence and is thoroughly famil- 
iar with it, and though, at this distance in time and in the absence of statis- 
tics, the estimate may seem wild, it must be remembered that at that time the 
land was new, injury by winter freezing or summer drouth practically unknown, 
and that the average yield was about twenty pounds per acre on uplands, whereas 
at present a very small proportion of the crop is grown on uplands. The big 



Peppermint and other Essential Oils. 45 

crop of 1850 also so overloaded the market that the price of oil dropped to less 
than one dollar a pound, driving many out of the business. 

Although it was known that peppermint was a plant of an aquatic nature, it 
was not until 1880 that it was demonstrated that it could be successfully pro- 
duced on reclaimed marsh land. This induced Messrs. Sidney Johnson and Henry 
Hall, of Three Rivers, to buy and reclaim 1,000 acres of the "Florence marsh" 
for this purpose, on which Mr. Hall still successfully operates the largest mint 
farm in the world. 

Marsh mint, however, is not free from failures. Cut worms, spring frosts, sum- 
mer floods and grasshoppers serve to keep the supply even with the demand. 
Though an average successful crop is fifteen to twenty pounds of oil per acre, yet 
owing to reasons given fields are often cut yielding only two to four or five pounds, 
and frequently as high as one-fifth of the acreage in the State reported to the 
Mint Growers' Association is an entire loss, so this keeps the average per acre for 
the State low as compared with the average per acre for a fairly good crop. As 
the mint is only cultivated the first year and requires afterward no expense of 
labor except cutting with a mower and distilling, fields are often harvested which 
yield little more than enough to pay for mowing and distilling. 

WORMWOOD, SPEARMINT, ETC. 

Wormwood was first cultivated and distilled in Michigan in 1860, by the late 
Alvin Calhoun, likewise of Florence, St. Joseph county, who was the only grower 
for several years. In 1871 he sold 150 pounds of oil at twelve dollars per pound, 
and the exorbitant price so stimulated over production that the price dropped 
to about two dollars; too near the cost to leave any profit to the grower. 

The other essential oils grown and distilled by farmers are spearmint, tansy 
and erigeron. All these oils are produced in sufficient quantities to supply the 
demand, and their annual sales add several thousand dollars to the essential oil 
industry. 

ACREAGE IN PEPPERMINT. 

The number of acres of peppermint now raised in the State from a close esti- 
mate made by the Mint Grow'ers' Association, is about 11,000. The average yield 
per acre is about 8 pounds, making a total of 88,000 pounds. The average price 
paid growers for the past four or five years has been $2 per pound. Total 
value to growers, §176,000. The oil is sold by the producers to local buyers, who 
sell it to exporters and speculators in New York and other markets, except what 
is handled by the Mint Growers' Association and sold direct to the large dealers 
in New York and elsewhere for the benefit of its members. Michigan's only con- 
siderable domestic competitor in peppermint oil is the State of New York, where 
the industry first started. 

MODE OF DISTILLATION. 

As a rule the farmers distill their own mint, except the small growers, who 
draw it to the nearest still to be manufactured. These stills are generally run 
night and day until the crop is secured. The oil is obtained by evaporation, the 



46 Michigan and its Eesources. 

steam passing through a series of tin pipes, where it is condensed by using cold 
water upon them. The water and oil thus condensed runs into a receiver; the 
oil being the lighter rises to the top and is dipped off into cans and is ready 
for market. 

EXPOKTS OF ESSENTIAL OILS. 

The exports of pepjjerniint oil from the United States for a number of years 
past, so as to get an average cannot be obtained, for the reason that previous to 
the year ending June 30, 1891. this oil was classed in exports with other essential 
oils and drugs. In 1890 the association succeeded in getting peppermint in a sepa- 
rate list, and the annual statement of the exports of the United States for the 
year ending June 30, 1891, shows in pounds as follows: 

To Germany 2.'5.191 

Great Britain and Ireland 15.3'2l? 

France 1,513 

All other countries 291 

Total amount exports (pounds) 45.321 

Total export value $120,831 

Average value exports, per pound $2 66 



FOREIGN COMPETITION. 

A small amount of peppermint oil is produced in England, Germany and France. 
but not enough to affect prices in the world's markets. 

The most serious competition we have to meet is from an inferior oil produced 
in Japan. This oil has an unpleasant odor and taste, but is a heavy oil and rich 
in menthol. The following table of exports from Japan from 1884 to 1890. with 
the export value at the date of shipment will show the competition from that 
country: 

Year. Ponnds. Per pound. 

1884 12.020 SI 60 

1885 20.480 1 67 

1886 81,330 50 

1887 115.231 51 

1888 25.586 60 

1889 31.734 65 

1890 .39,149 85 

This oil was sent to the following countries: Germany, Great Britain. China. 
France, United States. Italy, British India, and other countries in the order 
named. 

It will be seen that Japanese oil enters largely into the world's consumption 
and is a strong competitor of American oils. Its cheapness, and the facility with 
which it can be mixed with our oil as an adulterant, makes it a dangerous 
rival. 



MICHIGAN AT THE FAIR. 



BY WORLD S FAIR COMMISSIONER. 



AT THE FORE IN THESE GREAT INDUSTRIES: 

First in Lumber, Iron Ore, Charcoal, Iron, Salt, Gypsum, Furniture, Fkuit, 
Peppermint Oil, Inland Fisheries, Lake Commerce, Ship Building; Sbcond 
IN Copper and Vessel Tonnage op all Kinds. First also in Yield op 
Wheat Per Acre and Value. Product Per Acre op the Main Farm Crops. 

A summary of statistics regarding Michigan's chief industries, compiled under 
direction of the State World's Fair Commissioners for bulletin in the Michigan 
building, makes a remarkable, and in some respects a showing as surprising as it 
is gratifying in respect to those industries in which the Peninsula State either 
leads all other states in the Union, or stands in the front rank in the extent and 
value of annual product. 

By this exhibit, compiled in most cases from official sources, Michigan stands first 
in lumber and saw-mill products, hardwood forests, hardwood manufactures and furni- 
ture. First in iron ore, charcoal iron, salt and gypsum. Second in copper. Among 
the first in yield of wheat per acre and in the value product per acre of farm crops 
generally as compared with states west of New York. First in peppermint oil, and 
not second in apples, peaches, plums and fruit generally. Third in value of sheep 
and wool, only Ohio and California surpassing her. First in extent of coast line, with 
over 1,600 miles on Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, St. Clair and Erie. First in 
inland commerce; first in inland commercial fisheries; first in ship building, and 
second only to New York in vessel tonnage of all kinds. First in number and 
variety of its summer resorts, and in its wealth of brook trout, grayling, bass, 
pike, perch, and other stream and lake sport fishing. First in its State univer- 
sity, with 2,800 students (science, literature, law and medicine); and not second in 



48 Michigan and its Resoukces. 

its common, high, normal and mining schools and agricultural college; or in its 
State benevolent institutions, including school for the blind at Lansing; for deaf 
mutes at Flint, soldiers' home at Grand Rapids, State public school at Coldwater, 
industrial home for girls at Adrian, industrial school for boys at Lansing, asylums 
for insane at Kalamazoo, Pontiac, Traverse City and upper peninsula, asylum for 
insane criminals at Ionia, and home for the feeble-minded. 

Some of these statements are almost startling. For instance, nearly half the total 
domestic product of iron ore and half its value come from Michigan's mines. Pro- 
duct for 1892, 7,543,544 tons; increase over 1890 census of 1,687,375 tons. (Report 
statistics geological survey for 1892.) Total value of product of United States for 
census year, $33,351,978; total tons, 14,518,041, of which Michigan produced 5,856,- 
169, valued at $15,800,524; Alabama next in tonnage with 1,570,319 tons, valued at 
$1,511,621; New York second in value product, $3,100,210, with 1,247,537 tons; Penn- 
sylvania third in value product, $3,063,514, with 1,560,234 tons. Average value per 
ton of ore, Michigan, $2.70; Alabama, $0.96; New York, $2.49; Pennsylvania, $1.96. 
(Census bulletin 113). 

" The total production of iron ore in the United States in 1890," says State Com- 
missioner of Mineral Statistics Lawton in his official report, •' was about 17J-^ mill- 
ion tons, to which Michigan contributed 7,185,175 tons, worth at the mines at least 
$26,000,000. The quality of Michigan ore is greatly in its favor. The average in 1890 
was 02 per cent, in metallic iron some 68, while much of the ore produced else- 
where has b\it 50 per cent or less. About half of the product, too, was Bessemer, 
i. e., so free from phosphorus as to be suitable for making Bessemer steel." 

"Nearly 55 per cent of all the iron ore mined in the United States in 1892 was 
furnished by the Lake Superior region, and of this amount Michigan furnished 86 
per cent.'' — Richard A. Parker. 

The report of the mining division of statistics in the geological survey for 1892 
puts the total iron ore product for the United States for 1892 at 16,296,666 
long tons, or 1,778,625 tons increase over census year. Michigan jjroduced in 1892, 
7,543,544 tons, an increase over census year of 1,687,.375, or 95 per cent of the 
increase for the whole country, and over 46 per cent of the total output. Ala- 
bama stands next to Michigan in output with 2,312,071 tons; Minnesota third, 
with 1,255,463; Pennsylvania fourth, 1.084,047; New York fifth, 891,099; Wisconsin 
sixth, 790.179 tons. Twenty-four states produced iron ore in commercial quantities. 
With only 43J^ per cent of the total output in the census year Michigan's value 
product was 471;^ per cent. \Vith 46 per cent of the total output in 1892, as per 
report of geological survey, the value product of Michigan iron ores for '92 should 
be a trifle over 50 per cent of the total value product; and with 47.3 .per cent of 
the total output, as per R. A. Parker's figures, 51.4 per cent of the total value 
product. 

Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota produce, according to 1890 census, more 
than one-third of all the lumber in the United States, while Michigan's output 
just about equals that of Wisconsin and Minnesota combined, and was a fifth 
(to be exact, 19.75 per cent) of the total domestic product. The total Michigan 
jn-oduct of lumber, shingles, staves, etc., for the census year aggregated $08,141,189, 
an increase over 1880 of $15,691,261. United States census bulletin No. 5, page 6, 



o 

•7: 



> 



CD 




•f'l^J — I 




L i_H_iM. 



Michigan at the Fair. 



49 



puts the value of lumber and sawmill products and their manufactures for 1890 
census year as follows: 



States. 


No. 
miles. 


Capital. 


No. 
hands. 


Valae 
product. 


Michigan 


86.3 
320 


$111,302,797 
84..586,623 
27,497,187 


43,827 
31,050 
9,927 


$68,141,189 


Wisconsin.. .. 


49,547,410 


Minnesota - 


19,123,023 


Total 


2,U0 


223,386,607 


84,814 


$186,811,622 







The acting superintendent of census under date of May 5, 1893, states that it 
was '• not yet possible to publish final and complete totals, but that Michigan's 
product constituted nearly one-fifth (19.7.3 per cent) of the total value of lumber 
and sawmill products thus far obtained for the census of 1890." He, however, 
gives a summary, by groups of states, of the lumber and sawmill products (exclu- 
sive of manufactures) as follows: 



White pine group (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota) $115,699,014 

Pacific coast (California, Washington, Oregon) 24,192,367 

Hard pine states (Maryland. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, 

Missouri) 54,747,266 

Central (Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee) 49,433,293 

Eastern (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 

Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware) 62,087,984 

All the other states and territories 4,119,246 

Total for United States $323,134,009 



The total United States lumber and sawmill products (according to same author- 
ity) for 1880 were 8233,660,043, or §89,474,052 less than in 1890, while Michigan, 
Wisconsin and Minnesota produced in 1880, §77,768,313, or 837,930,691 less than in 
1890. In 1880 these three states furnished 33.34 per cent of the total United States 
lumber and sawmill product, while in 1890 they furnished 35.81 per cent. The 
Pacific group furnished 7.49 per cent; the southern, 16.94 per cent; the central, 15.29 
per cent; the eastern, 19.21 per cent; all other states and territories, 5.26 per cent. 

The United States produces half of the world's copper, and Michigan one-third 
that of the United States. Michigan's 1889 product, 43,728 tons; 1890, 50,303i^ 
tons; 1891, 54,685 tons. " The total value of Michigan's 1890 copper output, at 15^^ 
cents per pound (average rate for year in New York) was 15,855,427." (Report of 
Michigan Commissioner of Mines and Minerals, 1891, page 36.) Total United 
States product in 1889, 113,028 tons; Michigan, 4.3,723 tons; Montana, 49,111. Total 
for 1890, 136,704 tons; Michigan, 50,303}^ tons; Montana, 61,475. Michigan 1891 
product, 54.685 tons. 

7 



50 Michigan and its Eesources. 

According to 1890 census Michigan produced one-third the charcoal iron made 
in the country, $3,932,278 out of the $11,985,103 total domestic product. 

In salt Michigan's output is almost one-half in amount and value of the total 
domestic product; $2,302,579 in value in 1890; in 1891, 3,927.G71 barrels; in 1892. 
3,812,054 barrels. 

Of gypsum Michigan produces almost half the total domestic product — 131,767 
tons in 1890; New York next with 52,206 tons. 

For an average of ten years ending in 1890, as shown by report of United 
States Statistician Dodge, Michigan not only led Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and all 
the great northwestern wheat states in the yield of wheat per acre (18^^.3 bushels 
in 1891 as per Michigan " Farm Statistics "). but also in the value product per 
acre of wheat, corn, oats, barley, buckwheat and hay. 

Michigan has 178 furniture factories in 60 cities and villages, with an invested 
capital of $9,855,000. Grand Rapids has 45 factories, with a capital of $5,000,000. 
employing 5,000 hands and is the recognized furniture center of the country. 

More peppermint oil is produced in Michigan than in all the rest of the country 
together. The acreage for 1892 is put at 11.000; average yield per acre, eight 
pounds; value per pound at still. $2.00, or a total value in first hands of $176,000. 
In 1890-91 the United States exported 45.321 pounds of oil, valued at $2.66 per 
pound, while Japan, the only other country producing a surplus of peppermint, 
exported same year 39,149 pounds, valued at eighty-tive cents. The Japan article 
is a heavy oil and rich in menthol, but in every other way inferior and is largely 
in use as an adulterant. 

But probably the most surprising tigures are those grouped under the head- 
ing, "First in inland commerce, first in ship building, and second only to New 
York in vessel tonnage of all kinds." According to the quoted report of Unitod 
States Statistician Dodge, the total vessel tonnage on the Great Lakes in 1891 
was 1,063,063 tons; number of vessels, 2,94'); value. $75,590,950. The ton mileage 
on these lakes in same year was 25 per cent of the railway ton mileage of the 
United States. The freight tonnage passing the Sault canal in 1890 was 8.554.- 
4.34. or 1,664,341 tons more than passed through Suez canal, and this although 
the Suez is open the whole year, while the Sault is closed several months. The 
freight tonnage passing through Detroit river in 1890 was 21,684,000 tons, about 
the same as that of Liverpool and London combined, or our entire Atlantic coast 
foreign trade tonnage. The character of the lake tonnage is given as follows: 
Steamers. 1,277; sail, 927; unrigged. 771; steel, 89; iron. 39; wood, 2,817. Statis- 
tician Dodge is quoted further on this point as follows: "About one-quarter the 
tonnage of our entire merchant marine is on the northern lakes, and the large 
steam tonnage (1,000 tons and upwards) on the Great Lakes exceeds the total 
similar tonnage of all the rest of the country by 131.093 tons." Michigan leads 
in this great lake commerce and her vessel tonnage for the year ending June 
30. 1892. exceeded that of every other state in the Union, except New York, the 
great ocean carrier. The figures on which this statement is based are furnished 
by the United States statistician from the last report of the United States bureau 
of navigation. The table following shows the number of vessels and vessel ton- 
nage of the sixteen leading states (totaling 4..373.040 tons in 1892) for the years 



Michigan at the Fair. 



51 



ending June 30, 1892, 1891, 1888 and 1886 and includes all states having 50,000 
tonnage: • 



States. 


No. vessels '92. 


Tonnage. 


Sail. 


Steam. 

628 
188 
477 
147 
257 
897 
174 
178 
196 
125 
172 
214 
181 
1.58 
1,457 


Total. 


1892. 


1891. 


1888. 


18S6. 


Michigan .. .- 


522 

1,494 
486 

1,902 
695 
151 

2,062 
•460 
251 
965 
150 
161 
3.59 
51 

2,302 


1,150 

1,682 
963 

2,019 
952 
548 

2,236 
638 
447 

1,090 
322 
375 
540 
209 

3,759 


390,920 
389,942 
353,( 57 
352,574 
316,872 
315,849 
143,536 
134,413 
111,267 
101,088 
89,074 
84,632 
57,974 
56,499 
l,3:«l,937 


388,021 
393,775 
284,744 
:«J9,014 
311,726 
267,795 


276,7.50 
433,133 
273,203 
409,664 
281,132 
276,540 
141,431 
119,754 
91,043 
91,996 
64,724 
77,470 
62,402 
53,317 
1,136,1.54 


226,391 


MassachaeettS— - 


442,383 




282,416 


Maine 

California. 


487,574 
251,142 


Ohio -. 


164,681 


Maryland 


146,899 




108,672 






83,025 






89,412 






49.776 




73,522 




"1,029,233' 


69,952 


Oregon.. - -.. 

New York 


.59,192 
1,218,113 







From the foregoing table it is seen that the growth of Michigan's tonnage has 
been continuous since 1886, and that its increase in six years has been 73 per 
cent. New York's tonnage for the same period shows a net increase of only 10 
per cent; its tonnage showing a steady decrease amounting to lo^j per cent for 
the live years ending 1891, and then in a single year jumping up 310.704 tons. 
Massachusetts shows a net decrease since 1886 of 52,401 tons, or about 12 per 
cent; Maine a decrease of i;i5.0{K) tons, or 27^3 per cent. The seven Atlantic sea- 
board states, New York. Massachusetts. Pennsylvania. Maine, Maryland, Connecti- 
cut and New Jersey, which in 1892 had considerably more than half the total 
tonnage of the country, showed in that year a net increase over 1886 of only 
39.078 tons, or l^j per cent, while the tonnage of the lake states, Michigan, Ohio. 
Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota, increased during the same period 
:{;39,406 tons, or 60 per cent, 315.774 tons being credited to Michigan and Ohio. 
The lake tonnage of New York and Pennsylvania has not as yet been given sepa- 
rately from the ocean tonnage. 

Not less surprising is the way Michigan has forged to the front in ship building. 
Of the total 294,123 vessel tonnage built in 189{t in the United States 1(!9.091 tons 
were built on the seaboard, 16,560 tons on western rivers, and 108,526 tons on the 
northern lakes. Of this 108,526 lake tonnage Michigan yards at Bay City, Detroit 
and Grand Haven built 45,7.33 tons, 65 vessels, including two 4,000 ton steel 
steamers for the ocean trade, while Cleveland and other Ohio yards built 41.000 tons. 
United States Statistician Dodge, who is authority for the foregoing, further says: 
••The steam tonnage built on the Great Lakes in 1890 was 40 per cent greater than 
that of the entire seaboard. For the lakes, 86,023 tons; seaboard, 61,137." It may 
not be amiss, in this connection, to add that but for the treaty with Great Britain, 
which forbade it. some of the great war cruisers for the United States navy would 
have been constructed at the Bay City yards. 

As indicative of Michigan's yet undeveloped, as compared with developed 
resources, farming and other, the following figures are also given: Population in 
1890, 2,09.3,889; increase over 1880, 28 per cent. Tax value. State equalization, 



52 Michigan and its Kesources. 

1892, $1,130,000,000; square miles, per United States survey, 58,915. Acres of land 
in farms as per " Michigan Farm Statistics" of 1893, 12,720,619. Acres land not in 
farms, 24,254,741. Acres in farms improved, 8,328,189; not improved, including 
reserved woodlands, 4,392,430. Considering the large proportion of Michigan's 
yet undeveloped resources in connection with what she has already achieved, her 
inexhaustible mines and minerals, her wealth in hard wood forests lying conven- 
ient to consuming centers, her advantageous position as the center of the com- 
merce of the Great Lakes, and the gi-eat amount of virgin agricultural land yet 
untouched by the settler, it must be conceded that no state in the Union offers 
brighter promise for the future. 

Michigan is a great State. She is surpassed by no other state in the Union, if 
indeed equaled, in the extent, number and diverstiy of the great industries in 
which she either leads or stands in the front rank; and this fact will be made 
more and more prominent as the days roll by at the great World's Fair in 
Chicago. 



THE UPPER PENINSULA. 



BY HON. J. M. LONGYEAK. 



The upper peninsula of Michigan, lying between Lake Superior on the north and 
Lakes Michigan and Huron on the south, and adjoining the state of Wisconsin on 
the southwest, is something over three hundred miles in length and nearly one 
hundred and fifty miles in extreme width. Its average width is perhaps fifty or 
sixty miles, its irregular outlines making it extremely difficult to give any compre- 
hensive verbal description of it. In surface characteristics it presents more variety 
than is found in any other part of the State. The eastern half of the peninsula is 
comparatively level, being underlaid on the south by horizontally bedded limestones 
and on the north by sandstone. In this part of the peninsula occur very extensive 
swamps, some of which are heavily timbered with spruce, cedar, tamarack, etc.. 
while others consist of extensive wet marshes or savannas. There are also large 
areas of land in this region with rolling and, in places, broken surface, particularly 
on the north or Lake Superior shore where sandstone often rises to heights of sev- 
eral hundred feet above the lake, notably at the Pictured Rocks, where the rugged 
scenery, the fantastic and beautiful forms into which the waters of the lake has 
worn the sandstone, create a coast whose beauties have been famous since the 
country was first known to the earliest explorers. The streams in this region 
generally Mow southward into Lake Michigan, the watershed, or divide, being only 
a few miles south of Lake Superior. The Teh-qua-me-non river is the largest 
which enters Lake Superior from the eastern half of the peninsula, the other 
streams being generally small. The streams flowing into Lake Michigan are slug- 
gish and of considerable volume, considering the area drained. Those entering 
Lake Superior are generally of rapid current and many of them form interesting 
and picturesque waterfalls in their rapid descent to the lake. 

The surface of the western part of the peninsula is generally rolling and often 
broken with high, rocky hills rising to heights of from six hundred to one thousand 



54 Michigan and its Resources. 

five hundred feet above Lake Superior. The most rugged and mountainous regions 
are the Huron mountains, east of Keweenaw bay, and the Porcupine mount- 
ains, near the west end of the peninsula. The streams in this portion of the 
peninsula are generally full of rapids and contain numerous cataracts, some of 
which have already been utilized for water-power. Many others will be utilized in 
the future, as the natural power, aggregating many thousand horse power, will 
certainly be used as the region is developed. Most of the streams in this west- 
ern portion of the peninsula are small, but a few carry a very considerable vol- 
ume of water and the power they are able to furnish will be permanent and 
valuable. 

Scattered about over the surface of the entire peninsula are hundreds of lakes 
of various sizes, from mere ponds to seA^eral thousand acres in area. Fish abound 
in nearly all of these lakes and many of them are visited every year by sports- 
men, the number of visitors steadily increasing from year to year as better trans- 
portation facilities are afforded. 

The region is an enticing one to the tourist, the sportsman, the artist and 
the man of business, all finding within its boundaries ample scope for the exer- 
cise of their respective talents and skill. 

IKON ORE. 

The great business of the upper peninsula is the production of iron ore, in 
which the western half abounds. It is safe to say, however, that great as the 
production now is, the capacity of the peninsula is many times greater than has 
yet been demonstrated. The greater part of the peninsula is still a wilderness 
and there are miles of iron ore indications yet untouched by miners or explor- 
ers. Many of these indications are fully as good as those first found on the 
older ranges. The iron ore business of the peninsula multiplied over seven times 
in the eighteen years between 1873 and 1890. both seasons inclusive, and it is 
safe to say that it may be still multiplied seven times more before the limit of 
its productive capacity has been reached. It is estimated by many experts that 
in the not very distant future the iron business of this cauntry will have 
increased to such porportions that it will be impossible to supply the <iuality of 
ore now being furnished and that it will be necessary to mine and smelt the 
so called lean ores. When that time comes the upper peninsula of Michigan will 
be able to supply many billions of tons of such ores, which are at present 
ignored by the miner. 

IRON MANUFACTTRING. 

Thus far the manufacture of iron in Michigan has been practically confined 
to furnaces using charcoal for fuel. It is. however, now confidently asserted by 
experts, who have carefully studied the subject, that it is perfectly feasible to 
manufacture iron, using coke as fuel, at Lake Superior points and this industry 
will probably be added to those of the upper peninsula in the near future. Char- 
coal iron for special purposes will undoubtedly continue to be made in the upper 
peninsula for many years to come and the thousands of miles of hardwood for- 
ests in this part of the State offer superb facilities for obtaining such fuel. 



The Upper Peninsula. 65 



COPPER. 

The enormous productions of native copper from Lake Superior mines are 
almost entirely the output of about half a dozen mines, the Calumet and Hecla 
producing more than half the entire output. The working mines are all situated 
on Keweenaw Point. The copper range, however, extends from the extremity of 
Keweenaw Point southwesterly, running nearly parallel to the shore of Lake Supe- 
rior, to the State line, a distance of about one hundred and twenty-five miles, 
of varying width, but the copper bearing formation is usually several miles wide. 
Probably not more than forty miles of this territory have been prospected and 
much of that but imperfectly. The possibilities of copper production in Michigan 
are beyond calculation. 

In addition to the formations carrying native copper on the Keweenaw Penin- 
sula there ai'e. in various parts of the iron and copper regions, known veins of 
copper ore (gray sulphurets, etc.). These veins, however, have had practically no 
attention, although some of them are doubtless well worth examination, and search 
would reveal many more. 

LUMBER. 

The pine lumbering industry of the upper peninsula has developed very rapidly 
within the past few years and is now of very considerable volume. At present 
this industry is confined almost entirely to the manufacture of pine, although 
some cedar is cut. The hardwoods are also receiving some attention, but practi- 
cally the forest wealth of the upper peninsula, excepting pine, may be said to 
be untouched and undoubtedly the lumber business in this region has a great 
future before it. 

GOLD. 

The existence of deposits of gold-bearing veins have been known for years and 
one company has operated a mine and stamp mill for several years. Not enough 
work, however, has been done in the gold deposits to speak very positively, as 
yet. of their value, but considerable rock of fabulous richness has been discov- 
ered by the explorers. The gold-bearing region is generally a wilderness and but 
\ei'\ little known. A few explorers have investigated it somewhat and report the 
existence of gold-bearing quartz veins, placer deposits, and also some tellurium. 
The future undoubtedly will have some interesting developments for the State 
in this direction. 

SILVER. 

More or less silver has always been found in the copper mines and some years 
ago considerable exploring was done in Ontonagon county on veins which carried 
more or less native silver. No thorough test of this region, however, was made 
and the experiments resulted in no practical demonstration either of the richness 
or poverty of the lodes. The formation in which this silver was found appears 
to be nearly as extensive as the trap range, on the northwesterly side of which 
it is found. Wherever it was found silver was present. The few openings made 



50 Michigan and its Resources. 

covered many miles on the length of the formation and it is not at all unlikely 
that veins of sufficient richness for profitable working will be found. 

Veins carrying galena have been discovered in various parts of the peninsula, 
but thus far have had vei"y little attention. 

SLATES. 

Ridges of slate are of rather frequent occurrence and many of them contain 
material suitable for roofing slates. Some attempts have been made to quarry 
these slates for the market, and although slate of magnificent quality was pro- 
duced, the enterprises, for some reason, did not appear to be profitable. There 
has, however, been but one persistent attempt made at slate quarrying and it is 
likely that future efforts in this line may be more satisfactory to the operators. 
There are certainly many attractive looking deposits of slate and some of them 
will undoubtedly prove desirable for quarrying purposes. 

Excellent pressed brick have been made from pulverized slate chips and this 
industry, added to the quarrying business, would likely make the waste product 
of the quarries profitable. 

At many points and running with the slate have been found beds of graphite. 
but as yet no developments have been made in this direction and no thorough 
prospecting. 

SANDSTONE. 

About four hundred miles of the Lake Superior coast of the upper peninsula 
is composed of sandstone. It forms cliffs at many points on the lake from a few 
feet to several hundred feet in height. The formation generally extends inland 
for several miles. Several very profitable quarries of building sandstone have 
already been opened. There is a vast field for exploring and development of this 
industry. The stone produced from the quarries is of unsurpassed quality for 
building purposes. The colors are white, red, brown and variegated, the varie- 
gated being the least valuable and the most common. 

GRANITE. 

There are vast areas of so-called granite rocks in the upper peninsula, the 
greatest development of which are in the Huron Mountain region, although it is 
of frequent occurrence in all the counties in the west half of the peninsula. 
Practically no exploration for building stone has been done among the granites 
and, while it is supposed that granite exists of quality suitable for building 
material, it has not yet been demonstrated. 

MICA. 

Mica has been found in sufficiently large samples to lead to the expectation 
that workable deposits of this valuable mineral will be found in the upper 
peninsula. 

MARBLE. 

In Marquette county a range of serpentine exists from which specimens of 
various shades of green, veined with white and red in almost infinite variety, 



The UrPER Peninsula. 57 

have been produced as samples, but no quarrying on a commercial scale has yet 
been done. The few specimens which have been polished are very beautiful and 
a brilliant future undoubtedly awaits this industry. 

Dolomite is also known to exist in extensive beds. It is generally white, but 
in places indications of pink and light green shades have been noticed. This is 
a marble of which great quantities are used for building purposes, being put to 
both exterior and interior uses. The upper peninsula dolomite is entirely unde- 
veloped. By burning it is said to produce a magnificent quick lime and has 
been used in plastering buildings near outcrops, giving great satisfaction. 

LIMESTONE. 

The extensive area in the upper peninsula underlaid with limestone is but little 
known, except on the coast where there are many ledges suitable for building 
purposes. In many places the action of the elements on these coast ledges has 
produced very picturesque scenic effects. Several thousand square miles of lime- 
stone will contribute greatly to the business prosperity of this region in the future. 
A few small lime kilns at various points are now manufacturing quick lime and 
near the Straits of Mackinaw several deposits of gypsum have been discovered. 

TIMBER. 

At least four-fifths of the entire area of the upper peninsula of Michigan is 
now timbered with pine, white cedar, hemlock, sugar maple, soft maple, black, 
yellow and white birch, basswood, spruce, tamarack, poplar, fir and other varieties 
of timber. Pine and white cedar are already extensively cut, much of it being 
manufactured in the district. Large quantities are also shipped out of the dis- 
trict in rough shape to be manufactured elsewhere. A limited quantity of maple, 
birch, etc., is also cut. Considerable spruce and white poplar are cut and used 
in the manufacture of paper. Hemlock is used somewhat for lumber, but more 
for mining timber. Michigan is now the greatest producer of merchantable wood 
of any State in the Union, but with the exception of pine the timber reserves 
of the upper peninsula are practically untouched; an immense and promising field 
for future business. 

CLAYS. 

In some parts of the peninsula extensive beds of clay are known, but they 
have as yet had little attention. There are a few small brick yards in various 
parts of the district, but the most promising clay beds have thus far been neg- 
lected. There are clays in the southwestern part of Houghton county from which 
samples have been burned, producing a very rich chocolate colored brick of supe- 
rior texture. A bed of kaolinite is known in Ontonagon county, which has had 
a little attention. It is now owned by a pottery company in another State and 
is operated only to furnish a limited amount of material for special uses. Other 
beds of this material would undoubtedly be revealed by prospecting. 

A bed of clay in Marquette county shows by analyses a composition somewhat 
similar to that of pozzualana, the famous Roman hydraulic cement. Clay from 
this bed has also been used for cheap paint, giving excellent satisfaction. This 

8 



58 Michigan and its Resources. 



bed is also unworked. Clays from the Chocolate river valley have been made 
into cheap pottery, producing a yellow ware of superior quality. 

It is altogether likely that explcration would reveal beds of clay suitable for 
fine pottery and perhaps for porcelain. The decomposition of the laurentian rocks, 
of which immense areas are found in the upper peninsula, is likely to produce 
such material. 

It is believed that there are materials in various parts of the peninsula suitable 
for the manufacture of hydraulic cement, but little or no attention has been paid 
to the discovery of such material. 

FERTILIZERS. 

Beds of marl, or diatomaceous earth, are known in several localities and explora- 
tion would undoubtedly reveal a great many such deposits. This is another unde- 
veloped source of wealth in the upper peninsula, which will undoubtedly receive 
attention in the future. 

PEAT. 

Beds of peat are known to exist in various localities and, about 1870, a small 
iron furnace was constructed at Ishpeming, in which peat was used for fuel in 
smelting iron ore. The fuel was satisfactory, but the cost of labor at that time 
prevented the enterprise from becoming a commercial success. 

Some of the other undeveloped resources of the upper peninsula are novaculite, 
of which several beds are known, and many years ago a partially successful attempt 
was made to work one of them, but the expense of doing the business under 
many disadvantageous conditions prevented its becoming a successful enterprise. 
The whetstones, or hones, produced were of very fine quality and commanded a 
high price in the market. 

Beds of quartzite, suitable for use as ganister have been worked to a limited 
extent and these beds are capable of producing an almost unlimited quantity of 
this material. 

Sand suitable for glass making appears, in extensive deposits, near Grand Island. 

AsVjestos is also known in various localities, but no attempt has yet been made 
to utilize it. 

AGRICULTURE. 

Perhaps in its soil the upper peninsula has the greatest, certainly the most 
enduring, of its undeveloped sources of wealth. Cultivation of the soil has had 
comparatively little attention in this district, but the number of farms and the cul- 
tivated area is steadily increasing. Fine crops are raised and an extensive home 
market with good prices is sure to produce an important development in this 
direction. All of the cereals, excepting Indian corn, are successfully raised, pro- 
ducing large crops, and the grain is of superior quality. Hay is quite extensively 
produced and is an easy and sure crop. All root crops, such as potatoes, beets, 
turnips, garden vegetables, etc., yield liberally and are of very superior quality. Many 
people from this and other states who are acquainted with the quality of upper 
peninsula potatoes annually provide themselves, if possible, with "Lake Superior 



The Upper Peninsula. 59 



potatoes." Sugar beets have been experimented with somewhat and the reports 
of the agricultural department show that upper peninsula beets are superior in 
yield, both as to quantity and quality, to any others raised in the State. Field peas 
have also proved a very satisfactory crop. Muck soils found in the upper penin- 
sula have been found especially adapted to the growth of celery and this industry 
is rapidly becoming an extensive one in the vicinity of Newberry. This plant is 
successfully raised in all parts of the peninsula of a quality which has no superior. 

Small fruits, such as strawberries, raspberries, whortleberries, cranberries, etc., 
grow in a wild state, yielding abundantly, and the tame varieties thrive unusually 
well under cultivation. Orchard fruits are also satisfactorily grown. Apples, pears, 
plums, cherries, crab-apples, etc., are successfully raised. Plums and cherries yield 
very abundantly. 

Destructive insects, worms, etc., in other regions the pest of the farmer, are but 
little known here. 

Stock raising has received little attention but the few experiments which have 
been made demonstrate that it is perfectly feasible, and it is claimed that cattle 
raised in this region for food, yield meat of superior quality and flavor. The use 
of silos will undoubtely enable the Lake Superior stock raiser of the future to 
compete successfully with the cattle dealers of more southern latitudes. It has 
long been the subject of comment that imported cattle, arriving here in poor 
condition, rapidly take on flesh by grazing upon the native grasses, no other 
food seeming to be required to produce almost marvelous results in this direction. 

The most successful farmers in this region appear to be people from the north 
of Euiope, where the same climatic conditions are found. Many of these people 
w^ho arrived here only a few years ago, without means, have already achieved a 
competence. Their success brings others and the region is slowly becoming popu- 
lated with a hardy, energetic, honest, thrifty people. The class of immigrants 
who engage in this industry are usually of the best and become good citizens 
and valuable acquisitions to the commonwealth. 

The soils of the upper peninsula are almost infinite in variety, ranging from 
light sand through loam of various qualities to heavy, stiff clays. Much of the 
sandy soil has a clay sub-soil, rendering it very desirable for cultivation. Exten- 
sive tracts of muck are also found, being especially suited to the raising of 
celery, etc. 

TRANSPORTATION. 

In the matter of transportation the upper peninsula is exceptionally well situ- 
ated. Nearly twenty harbors give access to the water transportation system of 
the great lakes, from which its products may be floated to the harbors of seven 
of the best states in the Union and the dominion of Canada. Four of the great 
railway systems of the country are represented in the peninsula and two others 
reach its borders. These facilities insure the best possible rates to the most desir- 
able markets. 

The situation of the upper peninsula, lying between Lakes Michigan and Supe- 
rior, and forming a great central highway through which the rapidly growing 
traffic between the great western states and the Atlantic seaboard must pass, 
make it certain that in the near future several trunk lines of railroad must 



60 Michigan and its Kesources. 

traverse this region throughout its entire length. Two such systems have already 
been constructed and others ai-e projected. A glance at a map of the United States 
will show that the natural course for the traffic between the east and the west 
of the northern part of the United States and the southern part of Canada is 
by way of the upper peninsula of Michigan. Its geographical position alone would 
insure a great development of all its resources. Its population has more than 
doubled during each of the past two decades and this increase is composed of 
active, energetic, pushing citizens. It is certain that a region so situated, so pop- 
ulated and abounding in great natural resources must have a glorious future. 

Many wagon roads have already been built in this region, but many more and 
better roads are imperatively necessary to its best development, and, while this 
is perhaps not the best place to advocate the measure, it seems proper to sug- 
gest that the unemployed prisoners in the various state prisons might be 
employed with great profit to the commonwealth, and without interfering with 
the much discussed rights of honest labor, in constructing wagon roads in both 
peninsulas. 

CLIMATE. 

The climate of the upper peninsula is colder than that of regions further south, 
but the atmosphere is clear, bracing and invigorating. Malaria is practically 
unknown and its people are hardy, healthy and alert. The region has long been 
a Mecca for a steadily increasing number of invalids from less favored regions, 
who here find relief from hay fever, asthma, bronchial and pulmonary troubles. 
Lying within five hundred miles of the center of population of the United States, 
the upper peninsula of Michigan is bound to become a great summer resort, as, 
indeed, it already is. Inducements offered to the invalid, pleasure seeker, artist 
and the sportsman annually bring thousands of people from other states to enjoy 
its superb climate. 



UPPER PENINSULA RESOURCES. 



BY R. A. PARKER, C. E. 



GEOGRAPHICAL. 

When the classic city on the Tiber was at the zenith of her power she was 
the geographical center as well as the seat of government of a vast empire, the 
remotest parts of which were accessible by a magnificent system of highways. 
Though it was not strictly true that all roads led to Rome, yet the exaggera- 
tion was so little wide of the truth and at the same time so tersely descriptive 
of the method by which the regnant city kept in close touch with all her depend- 
encies, that it passed unchallenged, and that "all roads led to Rome" was 
universally accepted as a fact. At any rate, the geographies of the day located 
all places with reference to the then mistress of the world, and the guide-boards 
or whatever served their purpose, told the traveler that in such a direction and 
in so many days' journey lay Rome. 

The year 1893 affords a modern instance of a similar condition, so that the 
present moment it holds figuratively and literally true that all roads lead to the 
World's Fair. Chicago is the center of civilization for the time being; the Rome 
of a broader and nobler empire; a Rome which has achieved and maintained 
supremacy by the arts of peace; whose walls are the enterprise and patriotism 
of her people; whose conquering armies are the intellectual, industrial and 
commercial classes. 

The mining districts of Michigan must necessarily attract many from among 
the hosts who visit this country and the V/orld's Fair this year, and to them 
these pages modestly essay to serve as a guide. The meridian of Chicago trav- 
erses the very heart of the iron district of Micuigan. The palace of mines and 
mining in Jackson park is on an exact north and south line with the iron 
mines of Ishpeming and Negaunee. 



62 Michigan and its Resources. 



TRANSPORTATION. 

Three great railway systems, the Chicago & Northwestern, Chicago, Milwaukee & 
St. Paul and the Wisconsin Central, reach northward from Chicago along the line 
of this meridian and bring all parts of the mining district within twelve to fifteen 
hours ride from the western metropolis. Hugging the same meridian a maritime 
route takes the tourist in one day from Chicago to the greatest iron port of the 
world, Escanaba, adding all the comforts of steamship accommodations to the 
delights of travel and without for a moment quitting sight of the shore panorama of 
undulating hills, verdant forests, smiling meadows and busy cities. A three days' 
prolongation of this voyage will culminate at the head of Lake Superior, after the 
voyager has passed through the wonderful St. Mary's canal and entered every port 
where can be heard the noisy rumble of the crude ores as they plunge from bins 
high in air through iron troughs and into the holds of great vessels for transporta- 
tion to the furnaces of the east. 

Another great trunk system, the Canadian Pacific, gives a direct connection with 
the Atlantic seaboard and the agricultural northwest. This line is also paralleled by 
a maritime route of unsurpassed beauty and grandeur, and traversing the entire 
chain of the great lakes except Lake Michigan. 

Such is the peculiarly advantageous geographical situation of the upper penin- 
sula of Michigan, a rough scalene triangle of about 20,000 square miles area, 
with the angles marked by Menominee, Sault Ste. Marie and the mouth of the 
Montreal river. 

TIMBER. 

Timber is almost the sole natural resource of the eastern half of the peninsula. 
The western half is equally rich in forests of pine and hardwoods, while in the 
central portion it possesses treasures in its mines of iron, copper and gold, and 
quarries of sandstone and marble. In time the great clay and kaoline beds will be 
immensely valuable. Slate is abundant and graphite is known to exist. 

CLIMATE. 

The climate knows neither extreme heat nor cold, thanks to the equalizing influ- 
ence of the adjacent great lakes, though the district lies between the parallels of 
forty-five degrees and thirty minutes and forty-seven degrees and thirty minutes 
north latitude. The air is pure and invigorating. The water of Lake Superior is 
remarkable, not only for its purity, but its average temperature, being about 
forty-six degrees Fahrenheit. The streams afford ample power and supply for 
every purpose. The Dead river, near Marquette, being harnessed to a motor, fur- 
nishes electric light for municipal and household purposes. 

The population of 150,000 souls is heterogeneous, owing to the comparative new- 
ness of the district and the vicissitudes of mining. But in no mining district in 
the world is there a population of better average intelligence and education. 

HISTORICAL. 

In the history of early exploration and discovery, there is a peculiar fascina- 
tion, and it is especially so with regard to the famed Lake Superior regions of 



Upper Peninsula Eesoukces. 63 



northern Michigan, a territory which half a century ago was marked on the map 
as the "unexplored country lying north of the straits of Mackinaw," but which is 
now the greatest iron producing region in the world, and has within its borders the 
Calwmet & Hecla copper mine, one of the largest copper producers in the world, and 
the only one in which that metal is found in a pure state. 

It is the purpose of this article to review not so much the wonderful development 
of the northern peninsula of Michigan, a peninsula nearly encircled with the great- 
est lakes in the world (Lake Superior on the north, with its water clear as crystal, 
and pure as a living spring, fringed by some of the most magnificent scenery in 
nature, with Lake Michigan and Green bay delightfully situated on the south), as 
to narrate a few of the facts and incidents concerning the discovery of this mineral 
wealth, the efforts of its pioneers for its development, and the settlement of this 
unknown region. 

In 1844 the lands in this northern peninsula of Michigan had been partly sur- 
veyed into townships, but not subdivided into sections. The government surveyors 
engaged in dividing this territory into townships during that year carried to the 
east reports that it contained evidence of valuable mineral deposits, and some of 
these reports were of a glowing character, as is usually the case where the rich 
minerals of mother earth are either known or supposed to exist. 

This was about the time similar reports were sent from the gold fields of Cali- 
fornia, which carried flocks of people to the Pacific coast and caused many to leave 
their bones bleaching upon the plains in the unsuccessful effort to reach the goal 
of their hopes. 

These reports with regard to the copper and iron region reached the early citizens 
and settlers of Jackson, Michigan, which was then a small inland town, in the then 
sparsely settled lower peninsula, and during the long winter of 1844 and 1845, when 
there was little for the inhabitants of that enterprising village to busy themselves 
about, they canvassed the probabilities of the future wealth of the northern penin- 
sula, and the more they canvassed that subject and speculated upon the probabilities, 
the brighter the visions of easily and rapidly accumulated wealth appeared, and these- 
visions became a settled conviction in their minds that a fortune of no small pro- 
portions awaited them in this unexplored region, if they would but "go out and 
possess it." 

Guided by these convictions, eleven residents of Jackson and one of Detroit, includ- 
ing Col. A. V. Berry, Frederick W. Kirkland and Philo M. Everett, formed an asso- 
ciation called the "Jackson Mining Company," for the purpose of conducting and 
prosecuting the business of mining, in the mineral district so called on the south 
shore of Lake Superior, and for the purpose of smelting the ore of copper and other 
minerals to be obtained from said lands. 

These enterprising men sent out exploring parties to this new and undeveloped 
region during the year 1845. They journeyed north by a small steamboat, that 
made occasional trips as far as the rapids of Sault Ste. Marie and from there by 
Indian canoes coasted along the south shore of Lake Superior to the north of Dead 
river, a stream emptying into Marquette bay, and now in the limits of the present 
flourishing city of Marquette. At Sault Ste. Marie they met Marji Gesick, a sub- 
chief of the Chippewa tribe of Indians, a shrewd, bright king of the forest, who 
possessed none of the accomplishments of polite society, but was well acquainted 
with every river and stream flowing into Lake Superior, and every bay and inlet 



64 Michigan and its Resources. 

along its grand and beautiful shore. These pioneers from Jackson, while at Sault 
Ste. Marie, succeeded in inducing Marji Gesick to guide them to the iron regions now 
lying in Marquette county, in this northern peninsula; and landing at the mouth of 
Dead river, following this Indian guide through the woods, they were taken to a high 
hill sloping to the north, and at its base and along the side of the hill there was an 
outcrop of the finest quality of gray granular iron ore that stood out to view like 
a quarry of granite; and at the foot of this hill and near this iron was a large, 
massive pine tree, about four feet in diameter, standing in the midst of a forest of 
hard wood. 

As the government had not surveyed these lands, and they were not in market, 
this territory could not be purchased by these pioneers, but Congress had passed an 
act that where mineral territory was discovered on the lands of the government, the 
discoverer might obtain a mining right by applying to the war department, describing 
the territory as best he could, and receive from the department a certificate known 
as a " permit to mine," with an agreement upon the part of the government that, 
under certain conditions, when the land should be surveyed, the government would 
lease the territory to the party holding such permit. 

Under these provisions of congress a mile square might thus be selected, and 
in order to designate the territory including this wonderful deposit of iron ore, 
these explorers marked this stately pine on two sides, putting their specific marks 
■of designation on the tree, and considered that tree the center of a mile square; 
and the year following. Col. Berry and F. W. Kirtland, both surveyors, taking that 
pine tree as the center of the section, marked out the boundary of the mile square 
thus designated by blazed lines, and thus was located what has been known dur- 
ing half a century as the "Jackson Mine of Lake Superior."' 

As a reward for his services, Marji Gesick received from the Jackson Mining Com- 
pany the following certificate: 

" River Du Mort, Lake Superior, May 30th, 184:6. — This may certify, that in con- 
sideration of the services rendered by Marji Gesick, a Chippewa Indian, in hunt- 
ing ores of location No. 593, of the Jackson Mining Company, that he is 
entitled to twelve undivided thirty-one hundredth parts of the interest of said 
mining company in said location No. 593. A. V. Berry, President; F. W. Kirt- 
land, Secretary." 

This paper Marji Gesick kept in a little box of birch bark in his wigwam, 
and when he went upon fishing excursions in his canoe, carried this little box 
with him in the bottom of his canoe. He died at an old age in his canoe, and 
in this canoe this box was found by his daughter Charlotte, the wife of Charles 
Kobogum, now chief of the remnants of the Chippewa tribe in this northern 
•country, who has adopted the habits of civilization and lives in a beautiful park 
in the outskirts of the city of Marquette, on Presque Isle Point, where he is 
the overseer and protector of its natural growth of trees, consisting of pines, bal- 
sam, fir, cedar, white birch, maple, beech and native shrubbery. 

Charles Kobogum is over eighty years of age and is as straight as an arrow, 
six feet in height, with massive head and a brain that would have made him a 
warrior of distinction in his tribe in its warlike days, or, if reared in civilization, 
a commanding figure in public life. His wife Charlotte, now totally blind, is also 
a specimen of the native intelligence and kindly disposition of the aborigines when 
not goaded to revenge by outrageous treatment. Charles and his wife are now 



Upper Peninsula Eesources. 65 



largely siipported by the proceeds of a judgment collected against the Jackson Iron 
Company, based upon the above certificate received from the predecessor of the 
present company. 

The records of the Jackson Iron Company showed, upon the trial of the suit 
brought against the company for enforcement of the right of the heirs of Marji 
Gesick, that up to 1884 that company had realized in dividends and surplus 
about nine million dollars from this iron hill, thus discovered to the pioneers in 
question by Marji Gesick. It is just to say that these early pioneers who dis- 
covered this mine never questioned the justice of Marji Gesick's right and were 
not responsible for the necessity of a lawsuit to recover them. This rich prop- 
erty passed from their control at an early date. The struggle to develop it upon 
this northern shore involved such expense, and the difficulty of bringing the 
product to market at that time was such that the members of the pioneer asso- 
ciation lost their stock largely by oppressive assessments and the property passed 
into the hands of eastern capitalists, who refused to recognize the rights of dis- 
covery due to Marji Gesick until the supreme court of Michigan pronounced fav- 
orably upon the justice of the claim. 

The Jackson mine is located about thirteen miles from the shore of Lake 
Superior, by the traveled route from Marquette, and though the ore was dis- 
covered in 1845 no shipments for market were made until 1856, as there were 
no means of transportation until that time. 

While the people of Jackson, Michigan, were being awakened to the mineral wealth 
of this northern country, the people in old Massachusetts were also canvassing, 
not only the wealth of the gold fields of California, but also the mineral resources 
of this northern region, and at Worcester, in that state, an association was also 
formed consisting of Amos R. Harlow, Waterman A. Fisher, Robert J. Graveraet 
and Edwin Clark, to make explorations and locations similar to those proposed 
and made by the Jackson parties, and Mr. Harlow, as the first agent of that asso- 
ciation, landed at the mouth of Carp river on July G, 1849, having coasted from 
Sault Ste. Marie in an Indian canoe, leaving his wife and family at Sault Ste. 
Marie, to follow him. The purpose of this association was not only to locate 
iron, but to smelt it, and certain government leases were procured by this company 
•covering the territory now known as the mine of the Lake Superior Iron Com- 
pany, then under the name of the " Briggs lease," and also the Cleveland mine, also 
held under what was known as the "Moody lease," all procured from the war 
department of the government. This association erected a forge on Marquette 
bay, on Lake Superior, upon ,the site of the now beautiful city of Marquette, 
located upon one of the most beautiful bays in the world, a bay often likened 
by European travelers to that of Naples. Marquette is a city of beauty as it 
rises from the water by undulating ground, with a landscape background of tow- 
ering hills, well deserving the name of mountains. 

The Jackson Iron Company also located a forge within two miles of its mining 
location about the same time the Marquette Iron Company (the association from 
Massachusetts) located its forge on the shores of Lake Superior. These smelting 
enterprises were neither of them financially successful, but served the purpose 
of testing the ores and pointing out to capital the great wealth of the region, 
and were therefore pioneer enterprises of the greatest importance to the country. 
In speaking of these forges and their early history the Hon. Peter White, of 

9 



66 Michigan and its Resoueces. 

Marquette, one of its earliest settlers and today one of the most prominent men 
in the State, described Marquette as follows: "A few houses, a stumpy road 
winding along the lake shore, a forge which burnt up after impoverishing its 
first owners, a trail westward just passable for wagons leading to another forge 
(still more unfortunate in that it did not burn up) and to the undeveloped iron 
hills beyond, a few hundred people uncertain of the future, they were all that 
was in Marquette in 1851-2." 

For many years after the discovery of the Jackson, Lake Superior and Cleveland 
mines, they were the only ones operated, and together in 1861 shipped about one 
hundred tons of ore; whereas during the year last passed there has been shipped 
from these iron regions of the north over nine million tons, and the greater por- 
tion of it from that part of the territory known as the northern peninsula of 
Michigan, some of it from the new bordering fields of Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

The early pioneers to whom we have referred struggled against privation, as is 
almost universally the case where man enters nature's sanctum and wrests from her 
her privacy. These men have lived to see the wonderful growth in the mineral 
industries which they had so much to do with bringing to the attention of the capital 
of the country, and to see the wilderness blossom into prosperous cities, and to 
behold the development of mighty industries, which is one of the rewards to the 
pioneer who has braved privations and hardships upon the frontier, a pleasure 
that those schooled and housed in luxury, and who know nothing of pioneer life, 
cannot realize. 

THE COPPER COUNTRY. 

"Let it not be thought that I am cracking up the country," wrote John R. St. John 
in 1849, prefatory to a book he published descriptive of the copper country of Lake 
Superior, its climate, resources and development to that date. If his modest little 
book was deemed incomplete then without an apology for its seeming exaggeration, 
what would the author say could he witness the achievements of this year, 1893, 
scarce half a century later! The "giant corporations" of his day were the Lake 
Superior Mining Co., and the Pittsburg aad Boston Co., operating upon fissure 
veins in Keweenaw county. The Agate Harbor, Eagle Harbor, and "other mines 
long ago abandoned as worthless were then considered rich mines. Nowhere was 
there a shaft exceeding eighty feet in depth. One company had a very crude and 
diminutive open air stamp-mill. It was spoken of as erected at a great expense and a 
failure as to its returns on the investment. But though almost utterly deserted 
now. Old Keweenaw can justly be said to be only hibernating. In the springtide 
of a new era she will awaken under the stimulus of railway extension and closer 
contact with the world, which will bring her resources into greater prominence; for, 
although thrown into the shade by her great rival, the Portage Lake district, her 
reservoirs of mineral wealth are by no means pumped dry. 

The story of Michigan copper mining is old and very romantic. It extends back 
as far as the history of the country and throws a ray of light into the prehistoric 
darkness. A race of intelligent beings mined copper systematically long before 
the savage Indian possessed himself of the territory. Their traces were most distinct 
on Isle Royal and in the Ontonagon district. They consisted of pits in which were 
found detached masses of metal, some of great weight accompanied by crude 



Upper Peninsula Eesoueces. 67 



implements whose form left no doubt of their use as mining tools. In one instance a 
mass was found lying upon a substructure consisting of layers of timbers placed 
crosswise, evidently for the purpose of lifting the mass to the surface. A shallow 
pit found on the outcrop of the Calumet and Hecla conglomerate in the earliest days 
of that mine was believed to have been made by those prehistoric miners. The 
museums and private collections of the country now contain all that was found 
of the implements, and the operations of modern miners have obliterated the excava- 
tions of the ancients. 

The written history of the Lake Superior copper district may be said to begin 
with " Legardes Travels," a book published in Paris in 16.36, and containing the first 
mention of copper on Lake Superior, the Lac de Tracy, and the only one for many sub- 
sequent generations. Speaking of the lake's south shore, he says: "There are mines 
of copper which might be made profitable if there were inhabitants and workmen 
who would labor faithfully." He speaks of having seen an ingot of copper 
procured from the Huron Indians, meaning by " ingot " doubtless a small mass of 
native copper. The Jesuit fathers who penetrated the region thirty years later 
were alive to the resources of the country as well as the state of the savage souls. 
They made careful note of the metals found in possession of the aborigines and 
their journals published in Paris contain frequent mention of large pieces of refined 
copper; not at all remarkable as the native copper of Lake Superior was as highly 
refined in nature's furnace as any that could be produced by the art of the metallur- 
gist of 1660 to 1700. One writer in 1640 speaks "of a large island in Lake Superior 
fifty leagues in circuit upon which was found a beautiful mine of copper." The island 
was Isle" Roy ale and the beautiful mine was the pit dug by the prehistoric miner, and 
within the present generation wrought as the Minong mine. Doctor Ben Franklin 
had read these old French manuscripts and books while resident in Paris, a fact' 
which he turned to practical account when he became one of the commissioners 
to settle the northern boundary of the United States. With apparent unconcern 
he drew his pencil over the map of Lake Superior so as to leave Isle Royale on the 
United States side of the line, and so it was ratified. 

In 1765 one Capt. Carver published a somewhat fanciful account of a journey from 
Mackinaw to the Mississippi, and upon the representations of his book the first 
company was organized in London to mine copper on Lake Superior. Alexander 
Henry, a gentlemen of adventurous spirit, became the agent and historian of this 
enterprise. He began operations in the side of a clay bank on the shore of the 
Ontonagon river in 1770. After digging through forty feet of clay he ran up sharp 
against sandstone, and left further operations to those who could guide their attempts 
to gain copper by the use of at least a little knowledge of geology. 

To Dr. Douglas Houghton, the first State Geologist of Michigan, the State and 
the world owe the development of the copper mining industry. He it was who first 
intelligently explored the district and reduced the geologic data he obtained into 
such form and system that the miner knew approximately where and how to look 
for copper. He began his researches in 1830, and devoted to it all his energy until 
the melancholy tragedy of 1845 put a sudden and premature end to a life that was 
invaluable to civilization, He was drowned during a violent storm near Eagle river 
on the night of Oct. 13, 1845. He was almost ready to make his final report and 
with him were lost all his field notes. 

It was Boston capital that first undertook the development of the copper region 



68 Michigan and its Eesources. 

after Henry's failure, and it is Boston capital that today holds the predominant 
interest in the mines. 

The organization of companies and location of permits were begun in 1842. Actual 
work was for some years confined to the extremety of Keweenaw point. Some good 
mines, notably the Cliff, PhcBnix and Copper Palls, were opened on the fissure veins. 
The only mine now operating on a fissure vein is the Central, a mine which has 
yielded handsome dividends and is still profitable. The Copper Palls mine main- 
tains a sporadic activity, but its operations are confined to the " ashbed " and 
amygdaloid lode lying along the formation. Some exploring had been done at Portage 
Lake near the site of the Quincey mine in 1846-47, but that district did not come 
into prominence until 1860. The Quincey then began the pace which took her to 
the front rank of amygdaloid mines, a position she still maintains without a rival. 

Operations on the Ontonagon began in a very small way in 1843, but it was not 
until 1847, when the discovery of the Minnesota lode brought the district into 
prominence, that mining began to be conducted there on a large scale. The discov- 
ery of the Calumet and Hecla conglomerate lode in 1866 marked an epoch in copper 
mining, and another epoch was marked when in June. 1885, the bold conception of 
Captain John Daniell was brought to successful fruition. That was the cutting of 
the Calumet and Hecla lode at a verticle depth of 2,270 feet by the Tamarack shaft. 
The event provided the Calumet and Hecla a means of measuring its resources; 
but, better still, it demonstrated the possibility and profit of deep mining. 

Such, in brief, is a ragged outline of the history of the Lake Superior copper region. 
Its details are fraught with the incidents of the most interesting character, but there 
is not space for them here. 

COPPER PRODUCTION. 

Up to January 1, 1892, the Lake Superior copper mines produced a grand total 
of 1,400,034,411 pounds of refined copper, and are now producing nearly twenty per 
cent of the world's supply. The vein matter as it comes from the mines now being 
wrought with profit, varies from seven-eighths of one per cent (the average at the 
Atlantic mine) to five per cent. After passing through the stamp mills the result- 
ing product, in the local vernacular called "mineral," separated from its matrix by 
the action of ponderous steam hammers and water, is concentrated by jigs and Evans 
tables and goes to the smelters 85 per cent fine and there reduced to commercial 
copper in the form of bars, plates and ingots. In view of its remarkable purity 
and freedom from base metals, is it any wonder that Lake Superior copper is given 
the preference the world over for all purposes requiring a superior grade of the 
metal. 

In 1891* the copper production of the Lake Superior districts was 109,370,000 
pounds, furnished by the principal mines as follows: 

Calumet & Hecla 65,000.000 Peninsula 1,609,689 

Quincy 10.300,000 Copper Palls 1,450.000 

Tamarack 10.199,415 Central 1.329,000 

Osceola 6,425.740 Allouez 1,227,000 

Pranklin 4,253,575 Huron 1,215,734 

Atlantic 3,648,000 Other mines 990,772 

Kearsarge 1,731,075 

Total 109,370,000 

* The statistics for_1892 at this writing are not available. 



Upper Peninsula Eesources. 



69 



VALUE. 



The proceeds from the sale of this stupendous output of copper cannot be very 
readily calculated, the fluctuations of the copper market ranging between a maxi- 
mum of something over 60 cents per pound to a minimum of a trifle less than 9 
cents Some conception of the profits can be best gained from a statement of the 
dividends declared by the principal mining companies now in operation. In addi- 
tion to this, it must be borne in mind that the majority of these companies are m 
possession of the most approved modern plants, which have cost vast fortunes; 
also immense tracts of real estate acquired at comparatively low prices and now 
capable of realizing in cash many times the purchase price, to say nothing of the 
various other valuable assets and the stores of mineral still untouched. 

The list of the active dividend payers, with the amounts paid by each to Feb. 
1, 1893, is as follows: 
liij,^ Dividend paid. Mine. Dividend paid. 

Atlantic §^00,000 Osceola -- $1.697,o00 

Calumet & Hecla 38,850,000 Kearsarge «^-^ 

Cjgjjtral 1,970,000 Quincy b,4-U,uuu 

Franklin"'. 1,100,000. Tamarack '^■^'^Q'^^ 



Total 



S.54,027,500 



To these same mines there has been paid in assessments the sum total of S3 190,000 
To the total dividends, as above indicated, add the amounts paid by the great 
dividend payers of the pre-Portage period-the Cliff, 82,280,000; Minnesota, 31,820.000, 
total $4100,000-and we have a grand total of §58,127,500. There are numerous 
othe^ mines that, though never or but for a short time on the dividend list, have 
nevertheless greatly enriched those interested in them by their output and the 
amounts realized upon their available assets. 

COST OE MINING. 

Only the most careful and intelligent management can wrest a profit from cop- 
per mining at the prices prevailing during the past five years, except in case of 
mines which, like the Calumet and Hecla, are in a position to almost dictate the 
market value of the metal. Some of the best results are achieved m mines like 
the \tlantic Though that mine's vein in matter averages but seven-eighths per 
cent' mineral, the mine has steadily maintained a dividend of 81.00 per share yearly 
and has lately entered upon an immense construction account involving the build- 
ing of a new stamp mill and railroad. The Tamarack is one of the cheapest pro- 
ducers, and it has been said that company can sell its product in New lork at six 
cents per pound and make a profit. In 1890 that company actually accomplished the 
feat of producing and marketing copper at 5.9 cents per pound. But 11^ cents 
per pound represents about the maximum of cost in mines now operating; in fact 
a higher cost would necessitate suspension of operation or continuation at a oss. 
The Calumet and Hecla and the Tamarack, Osceola combination (the latter control- 
ing the Tamarack, Tamarack Jr., Osceola and Kearsarge mines and known locally 
as the Clark-Bigelow syndicate), have effected a great saving in their cost sheet 



7G Michigan and its Kesources. 

by erecting smelting works of their own, and their example is about to be followed 
by the Quincy. 

It is known that the veins that follow the formation extend to a great depth, 
far beyond any yet attained, and that the copper in them is more evenly distrib- 
uted than in the fissure veins which also extend to unknown depths but are so 
irregular and " faulted " as to render necessary a greater relative amount of " dead 
work." 

The formation extends in a slightly sinuous course from northeast to southwest, 
the strata dipping northwestward at an average angle of about forty-two degrees. 
On its western side lies Lake Superior, while on the east it rests upon the Pots- 
dam sandstone. The average width is about 14,000 feet and the length about six 
miles. The main body is a lava formed rock called " trap " in which are imbedded 
the amygdaloids and conglomerates which now form the commercial sources of 
supply, with the single exception of the Central mine which, as has been stated, is 
on a famous fissure vein crossing the formation at right angles. 

The copper is disseminated in the form of masses, sheet copper, "barrel work," 
and fine copper. Some masses have been formed many tons in weight and have 
had to be cut with chisels into smaller bodies in order to permit removal from 
their matrix. This process is laborious and tedious, and instances are on record 
where in old times the discovery of a mass has been too much of a good thing, 
the cost of getting it to the surface exceeding the value of the metal. Masses and 
sheet copper are largest and most numerous in the fissure veins. Sheet copper is 
found in large flat pieces, generally very thin, but sheets have been found eight 
inches in thickness. " Barrel work " consists of lumps of metal from the size of a 
fist to that of a foot ball and of ragged pieces too large to run through the stamp 
mill. The formation on Isle Royale is the reverse of that on Keweenaw Point as 
to relative position of the strata, sloping southeasterly and indicating the continu-. 
ity of the Keweenaw stratification. Lake Superior occupying the depression. The 
strata are mose nearly horizontal, however, rarely tilting over thirty degrees. 

Though the prehistoric miner seems to have wrought successfully in that field, 
his latter day successor has been unable to wrest any great wealth from Isle 
Royale. It has not been through lack of endeavor, for explorations are still under 
way. The intermediate Indian avoided the island whenever he could, believing it 
to be the abode of the "Gitchi Manitou," or Great Spirit. 

THE IRON COUNTRY. 

Three well defined districts — ranges— constitute the source of the Michigan iron 
ore supply. They lie in the western half of the northern peninsula and trend 
nearly east and west. They are designated in the order of discovery and develop- 
ment, the Marquette, Menominee and Gobegic ranges. 

They each have a number of exceptionally large producing mines. The Mar- 
quette range in 1892 produced 2,666,856 tons of ore from twenty-eight operating 
mines, or an average of 95,000 tons from each; the Menominee range produced 
2,261,499 tons from twenty-nine operating mines, or an average of 78,000 tons; while 
that portion of the Gogebic range lying wholly within the limits of this State pro- 
duced 2,568,229 gross tons (the balance of this range upon the Wisconsin side of 
Montreal river shipped 405,764 tons) from seventeen reporting operations, or an 



Upper Peninsula Kesources. 71 

average of 151,000 tons for each enterprise. Of course this enormous average out- 
put is due to the phenominal deposits operated by the Metropolitan Land & Iron 
Company and generally known as the Norrie and East Norrie mines, which have 
made the hitherto unapproached output from an all underground mine of &85,216 
tons. Its total output since 1885 has been 4,114,623 tons, or an average of over 
half a million tons per annum, including the year of its discovery. There are only 
three mines in this State whose output exceeds that of this mine, and the young- 
est of the three, the Chapin, is over thirteen years old and has shipped 4,367,344 
gross tons. The Lake Superior mine has shipped, including output of 1892, 
5,718,007, and the Cleveland mine 5,027,606 gross tons. 

GENERAL GEOLOGY. 

These several deposits of iron ore in the upper peninsula have thus far been 
found only in the Huronian series of rocks. This series consists of quartzites, 
schists, banded ore and jaspers, greenstones, limestones and iron ore, and contains 
in all, according to Brooks, twenty distinct members. 

The Marquette region embraces the Huronian rocks, extending from the city of 
the same name westward to L'Anse, a distance of about forty miles, and contains 
all the iron mines that shipped ore previous to 1877. Geologically, the strata form 
a broad synclinal trough corrugated and folded in the direction of its axis, resting 
upon Laurentian rocks. The general trend of the formation is east and west, with 
the exception of a tongue of Huronian rocks south of Lake Michigamme and 
extending into the Laurentian, in which the Republic mine is located, and an iso- 
lated patch about twenty miles south of Marquette in which the Cheshire mine is 
found. The mines of this region are in one comparatively compact belt. The 
most easterly of the deposits of ore known (except the Cheshire) are in the Negau- 
nee basin, about a mile west of that town; the ores are of the soft hematite 
nature, readily mined and occur in enormous deposits. At the Buffalo company's 
property the ore was found to lie in a basin having a pitch to the north and west. 
This basin consisted of hematite and banded jasper schists. Hard hematite first 
shows itself in the Jackson mine immediately west of the Negaunee. Here the 
basin holding the hard hematites is narrow but widens towards the west, and at 
Michigamme lake the northern and southern veins are three miles apart. The 
first occurrence of magnetite is at the old Washington property, just south of the 
village of Humboldt, thirteen miles west of Negaunee. At this locality specular 
hematite, or slate ore, is also present in considerable quantities, but further west 
the ore mass is almost entirely magnetite. 

The mines of Ishpeming, which lie about three miles west of Ishpeming, are 
famed for the quality and continuous output they have made, and are the main 
reliance upon which the reputation of this range will depend for years to come. 
Beginning their shipments a few years after the Jackson, they have maintained a 
regularity and uniformity of product that is nothing short of wonderful, and what 
is of full as much importance, they give every evidence of their ability to maintain 
their output for many more years. The names of the larger producers are familiar as 
household words the iron world over. Lake Angeline's phenomenally high percent- 
age of iron and exceedingly low phosphorus gives it a unique position. The Cleve- 



72 Michigan and its Kesoukces. 

land and Lake Superior have been sending their high grade ores to the eastern 
furnaces for over thirty years. Barnum, Salisbury, Winthrop and Mitchell are in 
the list of active producers and will remain there in spite of predictions made by 
those interested in newer ranges. 

The hard ore mines, specular slate and magnetite, of the western end of the county 
(from the Republic and Champion mines) have been the standards of their respective 
classes for about twenty years, and their total output foots up in the millions of tons. 
Mining of these ores is accomplished by ways and means to which the peculiar nature 
of the deposits lend themselves. For instance, at the Buffalo group, the North-of- 
England, or caving system, is adopted and operated with marked success, both in the 
cost of product and amount of ore recovered, the losses being very light. In this sys- 
tem of mining the ore body is cut into prisms by raises and drifts. In the center of a 
block of ore a winze is raised and up to the crushed and broken roof of rock and tim- 
bers, a horizontal cut is then taken from the top of the ore body for say eight to ten 
feet in height, and starting from the edge furthest from the mill-hole or winze, the ore 
is drawn, thus allowing the roof of sand and rock to fall upon a floor of solid ore, 
which had, before the roof fall, been covered with logging of old mine timbers, poles, 
slabs, etc., by means of which protection the roof, in course of a few falls becomes a 
woven mattress of timber, which keeps the surface sands from mixing with and thus 
lowering the grade of the ore. 

In other mines, when the covering of rock will not fall regularly [as it does here 
and the ore body is soft, the Nevada system of timbering is used. This consists in large 
posts from two to three feet in diameter, so framed as to form the skeleton of a cube. 
These frames reach from one side of the deposit to the other and offer a means of 
attacking and removing the ore and at the same time supporting the roof; at intervals 
pillars of ore are left in the mine to help support the roof and keep it from caving in 
unexpectedly. When the roof is about to fall, it is shown by the pressure of one set 
of timbers upon another, a "cap" or piece of timber resting upon and connecting two 
posts, being at times cut half through by the weight it is bearing. This is the warning 
given the miner to keep out of harm's way. In bodies of soft ore the evidence of these 
timbers bearing great weight is very frequently seen, but it is not necessarily a signal 
of danger, for these crushed, bent or broken timbers are often removed while the ore 
remains in place and a new set of timbers put in. These very often hold the passage 
ways open, as the movement of the ore may have taken place previous to the placing 
of the later timbers. In some mines this renewal of timber is constantly going on to 
keep main gangways open. Sometimes two gangways, or levels, are maintained to 
insure access to the shaft at all times, or during repair of one of the levels, which of 
course would be apt to stop work at the point of repair for the time being. 

The removal of the pillars, after the sets of timbers have been placed in position, 
then follows. This is done in the case of some of the Gogebic mines by cutting into 
the center of the pillar at right angles to its length and directly across it, then driving 
a drift in the direction of its main axis, i. e., at right angles to this cut, to the hanging 
wall, and drawing back from this wall timbering to support the ore above. Two sets, 
or fifteen feet, are taken off in this manner, and if the wall shows signs of weakening, 
the ore is logged up and the place vacated for a week, when, after the fall of rocks, 
the same general scheme of removal takes place. 



Upper Peninsula Resources. 73 

In hard magnetite and specular hematite ore mines the ore occurs in lens or bean 
shaped masses, and is removed by aid of power or air drills. No timber of any 
amount is called for in these mines, save in places where the walls are largely com- 
posed of a talcose schist, or soaprock as it is locally termed. These places are 
treacherous and large masses are apt to fall if heavy timbers are not placed to 
support them. These timbers are of all lengths, depending on the distances between 
the foot and hanging walls, and are usually of pine; hemlock is being used at times, 
but it is heavier and somewhat brashy, breaking across the grain under heavy 
stress. 

This outline of the uses of timber and method of mining will serve as a descrip- 
tion of the three ranges, with the exception of a few of the hard ore mines which 
have a solid and compact hanging wall or roof requiring no timbers for support, 
such as the Barnum mine, whose workings lie directly under the main streets of 
the city of Ishpeming. Little does the average visitor to this city think, as he 
walks the streets or rides in the railroad or electric cars, that hundreds of feet 
below him is another city with its streets laid out with greatest care by the 
engineer, whose cars are running day and night, and where the electric light burns 
practically twenty-four hours each day; and yet such is a fact. It is a sight that 
should not be missed, as an opportunity to visit and inspect the mines is usually 
accorded to the inquiring and intelligent traveler. 

In this summary of the ores of the Marquette range, it is seen there is every 
known variety found within its limits. Large beds of limonite are known to exist 
in the vicinity of Michigamme, but owing to the low metallic contents, averaging 
fifty-three to fifty-six per cent, they will not stand the cost of lake transportation. 
Many of the mines possess immense reserves of low grade oar, which cannot be 
shipped for the same reason. The question then naturally occurs, why not utilize 
them at some point where fuel can be cheaply obtained, and where the ore can 
be brought to the furnace at low cost? Marquette, with its harbor and shipping 
facilities, offers more inducement to the steel and iron manufacturer than any 
other point on the lake, Chicago not excepted, as the same materials can be 
assembled at a lower cost than at that or any other lake city. Coke has been 
made from Connelsville, Pennsylvania, coal, of eminently satisfactory quality, and 
can be made at a cost about equal to that paid by Chicago. Vessels loading with 
ore from this point to Lake Erie ports will carry a return cargo of Connelsville 
coal at rates varying from thirty-five cents to forty cents per ton. Ores of every - 
kind and grade for foundry or steel mixtures are available by a short twelve to 
twenty mile haul, the shortest to a manufacturing point, from any of the ranges. 
By using low grade ores, i. e., from fifty-two (furnace yield) to fifty-eight per cent, 
obtaining them at a price far below the normal market, with a short haul, and 
coke made upon the ground, utilizing the waste heat from the ores, there is no 
point today in the central west that can produce as high grade pig metal at the 
same cost as can be done here. This is worthy the serious consideration of all 
interested in the production of pig iron, and figures are to be had which will dem- 
onstrate the truth of this statement. 

Menominee range lies about forty miles south of the Marquette range, runs about 
parallel with it, and is separated from it by a horizon of Laurentian granites, 
gneisses and schists. It includes two ranges of iron ore, separated by a belt of 

10 



74 Michigan and its Resoueces. 

silicious dolomite. In the southern range of deposits the iron ore consists princi- 
pally of a soft specular, blue (red) hematite which runs high in iron and low iu 
phosphorus. Although quite soft the ore rarely changes color except on handling, 
when it soon becomes coated with its own red powder; by the time the ore reaches 
Cleveland, its texture is apparently earthy. The ore usually occurs in irregular 
pockets or lens-shaped masses in a banded .quartzose ferruginous schist, which is 
often magnetic, and thus enables the ranges to be traced with the dip-needle. 
The ore itself does not affect the compass needle. 

The Chapin mine at Iron Mountain is the phenomenal property upon this range. 
This reputation has been acquired by reason of the enormous size of the deposit, 
its high grade and its reducability in the furnace owing to its peculiarly combined 
elements, which have made it a general favorite with furnace men. The deposit 
is lens-shaped in plan; that is, it appears as two wedges placed back to back. It 
varies from three feet at the extreme ends to something over a hundred feet in the 
widest portions, and is about two thousand feet long. It has been continuously 
operated since 1880 when it sent to market 34,556 gross tons of ore. Its total out- 
put is over four million tons, and it has reserves which will enable it to maintain 
its position as the leading shipper of this range for many years. To put before the 
reader an illustration that may be grasped by the imagination it may be stated 
that to convey the total product of this one mine in r ailroad cars, such as are used 
for carrying ore from the mines to the docks, would require a train of 218,367 
20-ton cars, which at twenty-three feet in length would cover a distance of 5,022,441 
feet, or 951 miles. About the distance between New York city and Chicago. 

The Gogebic range deposits vary in their mode of occurrence and contents from 
those of the other two that have been described. The same series of rocks are 
found, but occur in a reverse order. For instance, while quartzite forms the hang- 
ing wall of the Marquette ores, it is the foot wall of the Gogebic. Lying upon 
the granites and schists of the Lauren tian rocks, the Huronian quartzite dips to the 
north at an angle of sixty to sixty-five degrees; north and conformable to this are 
banded jasper schists varying in thickness from 600 to 1,500 feet; north of this are the 
red and black slates. Then follow the traps and conglomerates from the northeast, 
in which, at Keweenaw Point, the great native copper mines are located. 

The ore is found lying in a V shaped trough, the left leg of the V being quartz- 
ite, the right a more or less decomposed diorite dyke, which are found underlying 
each other and cutting through the ore formation to the granites, the covering "or 
capping of the ore being the banded jasper schist. The probable origin of the ore 
has been closely studied by Prof. J. R VanHise, of the University of Wisconsin. 
Briefly, it is the result of a concentration of the ore that decomposition of the 
banded jasper schists has liberated. Exploration has proved the existence of four 
or five of these dykes upon which ore in varying amounts has been found. 

In several places the ore came to the surface, and notably at the Colby mine at 
Bessemer and the Aurora mine at Ironwood, where large quantities were obtained 
at a very low mining cost. The ore is very uniform physically and chemically. It 
is a soft red hematite with moisture varying from five to fourteen per cent; a typical 
analysis of the better grade would be sixty-three per cent of iron, five per cent of 
silica and about thirty-five thousandths per cent phosphorus. The general mode of 
mining is by means of rooms and pillars, the ground being supported by sets of timbers 
as elsewhere described. At the Brotherton mine the caving system has been used 



UrpER Peninsula Resources. 



75 



since the opening of the property, and it has proved economical and safe and 
yields a large percentage of the ore. The ore is sent mainly to Ashland (forty 
miles west of Ironwood) docks when it is sent by lake to Cleveland, Ashtabula 
(Ohio ports), or to Buffalo, N. Y., for transportation to the furnaces of the Ohio 
valley and Pittsburg. 

IRON PRODUCT BY RANGES. 

The product of these three ranges is shipped from Marquette, Gladstone, Esca- 
naba, Michigan, and Ashland, Wisconsin. A small quantity is sent by rail to 
the dock at St. Ignace. Considerable ore is locally used and cast into pig at 
the charcoal furnaces of Ishpenaing, Negaunee, Marquette and Newberry. 

The aggregate production of the three ranges, exclusive of the mines in Wis- 
consin, is shown in the following tables. The mines named in the tables are 
those which have produced upwards of 100,000 long tons each. 

MARQUETTE RANGE. 



Name of mine. 



Lake Superior 

Cleveland 

Republic 

Jackson 

*Iron Cliffs 

Champion 

Pittsburg & Lake Angelina 

tBuffalo.... 

tWinthrop 

New York 

Volunteer 

Michigamme — . 

Humboldt ._. 

Cambria 

Lacy (McComber) 

Saginaw 

Milwaukee 

Negaunee 

Lillie... 

Samson (Argyle).. , 

Rolling Mill 

Cheshire (Swanzy) 

East New York 

Sparr.. 

Marquette.. _ 

National 

Detroit 

West Republic 

American 

Other mines 

Grand totals 



Output 

previous to 

1892. 



5,351,292 
4,716,699 
3,739,094 
3,162,615 
2,427,693 

2.654,527 
2,044,062 
1,155,932 
1,199.799 
1,055,395 

7.53,646 
872,719 
717,093 
623,871 
, 445,990 

451,424 
375,431 

269,587 
262,521 
267,205 

234,625 
161,997 
130,157 
164,244 
143,352 

150.216 
140,841 
133.077 
97.857 
1,332,774 



Output for 
1892, 



366,715 
310,907 
167,991 
92,567 

289,385 

109.979 
287,517 
379,719 
191,658 
11,220 

127,130 

1,894 

4..571 

41,549 

26,326 



85.846 

29,005 

600 



29.403 
35,175 



9,555 



15.076 
53,058 



Totals. 



5.718.007 
5,027,606 
3.907.085 \ 
3.255.182 ^ 
2,717,078 

2,764,506 
2,331,579 
1,535,651 
1,391,4.57 
1,066,615 

880,776 
874,613 
721,664 
665,420 
472,316 

451,424 
375.431 
855,433 
291.526 
287,805 

234.625 
191.400 
165,332 
164.244 
152.907 

150.216 
140.841 
133.077 
112,938 
1,385,832 



35,250,735 



2,656,856 



37.917,591 



♦Consolidation of Barnum. Salisbury. Cliffs Shaft and Foster. 
tSchlesinger group. 
i Braastad group. 



76 



Michigan and its Eesoueces. 



MENOMINEE RANGE. 



Name of mine. 



Chapin 

Vulcan 

Norway 

Ludington 

Iron River 

Dnnn 

Carry 

Perkins 

Mastodon 

Great Western 

Aragon 

Cyclops 

Qainnesec 

Sheldon & Shafer 
Paint River 

Pewabic 

Yonngstown 

Mansfield 

Nanaimo 

Millie (Hevfitt).. 

Monitor 

Hemlock 

Other mines 

Grand totals. 



Output 

previous to 

1892. 



3,707,292 

1,48«,750 

1.246,585 

985,278 

903,411 

614,285 
291,155 
394,064 
369,280 
284,952 

145,983 
284,396 
283,328 
196,498 
203,981 

91,498 
150,751 

68,139 
127,566 
109,121 

69,713 
35,581 
498,016 



Output for 

1892. 



660,052 
179,904 
44,767 
15,777 
1,176 

133,666 
125,773 



9,150 

87,487 



167,948 
1,697 



57,682 
18,390 

115,273 



69,259 



6,780 

42,819 
65,459 
161,081 



Totals. 



4,367,344 
1,668,654 
1,291,352 
1,001,055 
904,587 

747,951 
416,928 
394,064 
378,430 
372,439 

313,931 
286,093 
283,323 
254,621 

222,371 

206,771 
1.50,751 
137,398 
127,566 
115,901 

112,532 
100,990 
659,097 



12,550,009 



1,964,140 



14,514,149 



GOGEBIC RANGE. 



Name of mine. 



Norrie 

Ashland 

Colby 

Aurora 

Pabst.. 

Newport 

Cary 

Brotherton 

Palms 

Anvil 

Sunday Lake 

Other mines 

Grand totals 



Output 

previous to 

1892. 



3,129,407 

1.371,952 

1,255,059 

964,972 

507,626 

379,070 

293,931 
251,567 
129,215 
127,514 
101,417 
321,534 



8,883,264 



Output for 

1892. 



985,216 
281,896 
304,241 
319,482 
118,245 
165,962 

106,484 
130,888 
102,382 
42,090 
56,046 
79,001 



2,636,878 



Totals. 



4,114,623 
1,603,848 
1,559,300 
1,284,454 

62e;871 
545,032 

400,415 
382,400 
231,597 
169,604 
157,463 
400,535 



11,470,142 



Upper Peninsula Resources. 



77 



AGGREGATE PRODUCTION OF MICHIGAN 


MINES. 




Name of range. 


Previous to 

1892. 


1892. 


Totals. 




35,2.50,735 

12,850,009 

8,833,264 


2,666,856 
1,964,140 
2,636,878 


37,917,591 
14,514,149 
11,470,142 












56,634,008 


7,267,874 


63,901,882 







The rate of production indicated by the foregoing tables would seem at a casual 
glance to fix not a very remote limit to the supply. But the recent successful 
ventures in deep mining, and the now well established fact that many of the lenses 
of ore continue to great depths, the immense area still awaiting a thorough 
exploration, and the promise of electrical concentration to render valuable the all 
but inexhaustible stores of lean ore, place the limit beyond calculation. 

By the Edison process of electrical concentration iron ore containing but twenty 
per cent metallic iron has been profitably treated and raised to a grade of seventy 
per cent, or within two per cent of chemically pure magnetite, while the phospho- 
rus has been reduced so as to permit the use of such concentrates for still mak- 
ing. One carload at the experimental station near Humboldt attained seventy-one 
and four-tenths per centum of iron. The station was consumed by fire in 1891 
while experiments were still in progress. It is understood, however, that Mr. 
Edison regards the process as an established success and has effected a lease of 
the Spurr mine near Michigamme for the purpose of beginning the concentration 
of ores on a commercial scale. 



THE SHIPPING PORTS. 

The Lake Superior region furnished nearly 55 per cent of all the ore mined in 
the United States in 1892, and of that quantity Michigan furnished 86 per cent. 
In no other part of the world are there equal facilities for the handling and trans- 
portation of such vast quantities of ore. A practically all-water route from the 
mine to the furnaces makes possible the transportation of ores in great bulks. In 
fact, but for this provision of nature, the district would be almost worthless on 
account of the prohibitory cost of railway transportation in carload lots. The 
great extent of coast line and its deep indentations afford a number of fine har- 
bors which have been equipped expressly for the handling of iron ore. A brief 
account of these harbors will be of interest. 

The first Lake Superior iron ore was shipped from Marquette early in the fifties, 
and up to the close of 1892 a total of 18,644.203 tons had passed from its docks 
iato the holds of vessels. The amount shipped in 1892 was 1,027,32.3 tons. Until 
1879 Marquette held the lead in quantity of ore handled, but in that year Esca- 
naba gained it. Three docks, one recently built and another greatly extended, 
together with their incidental rolling stock, constitute the equipment for trans- 
ferring the ore from the cars into the holds of lake carriers. No. 4 dock, built in 
1889-90. is a specimen of the most modern and perfect structure of its class, and 



78 Michigan and its Eesources. 

coBt §250,000. It was fully described and illustrated with the designer's drawings 
in the New York Engineering and Mining Journal of January 10 and 17. 1891. 
Herewith is a brief description of the three docks, all owned by the Duluth, South 
Shore & Atlantic Railway Company: 

No. 1. Height of dock above water 4:2 feet for tirst 1,300 feet of its length; the 
new extension of 600 feet is 44 feet above water; number of pockets, 270; number of 
tracks, 3; capacity, 27,000 long tons. 

No. 2. This was a small and antiquated structure; in 1892 it was dismantled and a 
merchandise pier was erected on the piles. 

No. 3. Height of dock above water, 44 feet; length, 1,600 feet; number of 
pockets, 300; number of tracks, 3; capacity, 25,000 long tons. 

No. 4. Height above water, 47.5 feet; length, 1,4:00 feet; number of pockets, 
200; number of tracks, 4; capacity, 30,000 long tons. 

L'Anse became an ore shipping port in 1873 by the building of a dock, owned 
by the D. S. S. & A. Railroad Company, for the handling of the product from 
the west end of Marquette range. The dock is 38 feet high, 1,000 feet long, 
contains 100 pockets and has a capacity of 8,000 long tons. No ore has been 
shipped thence since 1885; the total reached 744,697 tons. 

St. Ignace has been a shipping port on a small scale since 1882. and has 
handled 610,315 tons of ore. In 1891 the dock was shortened 400 feet, the 
material being removed to Marquette for the extension of dock No. 1 there. 
As constructed, it was 800 feet long, 42 feet high; contained 100 pockets and 3 
tracks, and had a capacity of 10,000 long tons. 

Escanaba has maintained the lead she won in 1879 and her aggregate ton- 
nage of iron ore in 1891 and 1892 led the world. Shipments began in 1865 by 
putting the Marquette range under tribute; in 1877 the new Menominee range 
began to empty her treasures into the lap of the coming iron port of the 
world; in 1892 her shipments were 4,012,197 tons, nearly half the entire ore 
shipment of the whole Lake Superior region, and the stupendous total of 3^3,- 
875,4:54 tons of iron ore has passed through her gates en route to lower lake 
receiving ports. The Chicago & Northwestern railway company is the owner of 
the five immense docks at Escanaba. These docks, together with their equip- 
ment of cars, cost 82,290,000, and are described as follows: 

No. 1. Height, 46 feet; length, 1,104 feet; pockets, 184; tracks. 2; capacity, 23,0(K) 
long tons. 

No, 2. Height, 39 feet; length 1,082 feet; pockets, 192; tracks. 2; capacity, 19.300 
long tons. 

No. 3. Height, 39 feet; length, 1,212 feet; pockets, 202; tracks, 2; capacity, 20,000 
long tons. 

No. 4. Height, 46 feet; length 1,500 feet; pockets, 250; tracks. 2; capacity, 33,200 
long tons. 

No. 5. Height, 51 feet. 10 inches; length, 1,392 feet; pockets, 232; tracks, 2; capac- 
ity, 40,600 long tons. 

At Ashland the Wisconsin Central railroad has one dock 46 feet high, 1,404 feet 
long, with 234 pockets, 3 tracks, and a capacity of 28,250 long tons. With its 
equipments the total cost was $644,000. The Milwaukee. Lake Shore and Western 
has two docks there, one 40 and the other 45 feet high, each 1,404 feet long, 



Upper Peninsula Eesoubces, 



79 



with 234 pockets; one has 4 and the other 3 tracks; their capacity respectively is 
23,000 and 27,000 long tons. The total cost of equipment was $813,000. 

Gladstone, Michigan, shares with Escanaba the care of the Menominee range 
product, and an occasional cargo of Gogebic and Marquette ore goes out of that 
port. Shipments began in 1889, and attained an aggregate of 458,711 tons at the 
end of 1892. The Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic (Soo line) is the owner 
of the dockage facilities, which consist of one dock 47 feet high, about 1,200 feet 
in length, with 120 pockets, 5 tracks and a capacity of 16,000 long tons. 

The docks are all wooden structures. The upper dock or floor is from 40 to 50 
feet above water level, sufficient to accommodate bins of 15 to 20 feet depth with 
outward, sloping bottoms below the floor level, and yet high enough to be well 
above the rail of the largest vessel lying alongside. Plate iron chutes or spouts 
are hinged beneath small doors at the bottom of the pockets. The doors are con- 
trolled from the top of the dock, and when opened they discharge the ore through 
the chutes into the hold of the vessel. In this manner a cargo of three thousand 
tons is often loaded in three hours. As many pockets can be simultaneously dis- 
charged as there are hatchways in the vessels. As the principal mining companies 
are the owners of fleets of modern and capacious lake carriers employed exclusively 
in the ore transport business, the product of the mines thus receives most expedi- 
tious conveyance to the furnaces. 

BILBOA AND LAKE SUPERIOR COMPARED. 



The Bilboa district in Spain is the only iron producer in the world which will 
stand comparison with the Lake Superior district, with great disparity as to quan- 
tity. The output, previous to 1860, of the Bilboa district is not known. For the 
same period the production of the Marquette range, the only producing range in 
the Lake Superior district to 1860 and for many years after, is estimated at 203,676 
long tons. The figures for the Bilboa district are given in metric tons; but as the 
metric ton has an advantage of only thirty-four pounds over the long ton, the 
quantities, as reported by the chief mining engineer of the province, may be com- 
pared with the Lake Superior figures as shown in the following table prepared by 
John Birkinbine for embodiment in his 1891 report on mineral resources to the 
census bureau of the United States: 



Years. 


Bilboa. 


Lake 
Superior. 


Years. 


Bilboa. 


Lake 
Superior. 


1860 


69,816 

54,869 

70,460 

70,720 

120,470 

102, -360 

89,912 

136,075 

154,120 

164,800 

250,337 

403,142 

402,000 

365,340 

10,821 

34,296 


114,401 

49,909 
124,169 
203,055 
247,059 
193,758 
296,713 
565.504 
510,522 
639,097 
859,507 
813,984 
948,553 
1,195,234 
899,934 
881,166 


1876... 


432,418 
1,040,264 
1,305,625 
1,262,671 
2,683,627 
2,620,626 
3,855,000 
3,627,752 
3,216,321 
.3,311,419 
8,185,228 
4,198,696 
3,631,593 
3,901,511 
4,326,933 


993,311 


1861 


1877 


1,025,129 


1862... 


1878 


l,l:i7,593 


1863.. 


1879 


1,420,745 


1864 


1880 


1,962,477 


1865 


1881 


2,323,640 


1866 


1882.- 


2,932,953 


1867. 


1883 


2,580,223 


1868 


1884 . . 


2,321,882 
2,485,855 


1869.. 


1885 


1870. 


1886. 


3,634,201 


1871 


1887 


4,728,695 


1872 


1888 


5.006,896 


1873 


1889 


7,519,614 


lS74a 


1890 


8,944,031 


1875 a 










Total 1860 to 1890 








45,099,253 


57,549,800 







80 



Michigan and its Resoueces. 



Yearly average for thirty-one years: Bilboa district, 1,454,815 metric tons; Lake 
Superior, 1,856,445 long tons. Output for 1891 of Bilboa district, not known; Lake 
Superior, 7,621,465 long tons. Output for 1892 of Bilboa district, not known; Lake 
Superior, 9,074,243 long tons. 

The important position held by Michigan is well illustrated by comparing her 
singly with the Lake Superior district's great Spanish competitor from 1885 to 
1890, the year 1885 being the first that the Gogebic range appeared as a producer 
of any importance. The following table is also taken from Birkinbine's 
compilation: 





Years. 


Bilboa. 


Michigan. 


1885 - 


3,311,419 metric tons. 

8,185,228 

4.198,696 

3,631,-593 

3,901,511 

4,326,933 


2,205,190 long tons. 


1886 - -.- --. 


3,179,511 


1887 - -... 


8,934,339 " 


1&8.8 


4.113,803 


1889. . 


5,856,169 " 


1890 


7,141,6.5fi 


1891 


6,127,001 


1892. 




7,267,874 









UPPEE PENINSULA SANDSTONE. 

The sandstones of the upper peninsula are all located in the Potsdam horizon 
and quarries are operated at four points, all located upon the south shore of Lake 
Superior. They are composed of rounded and angular grains of sand rock. The 
cementing material of sandstones very largely affect the color of the stone and may 
be either silica, carbonate of lime, or oxide of iron, the colors of the stone in a 
measure determining the nature of the cement. Silica alone produces a whitish, 
hard, compact stone; carbonate of lime a blue or gray, soft and easy to work; 
while iron oxide yields the red and brown sandstones, usually working very free. 
This is particularly true of the sheets of Lake Superior stone. It cuts freer and 
easier in all directions than any other stone that may be regarded as a competitor 
in the market. 

The grain of the stone is usually quite fine, so much so that in the case of the 
rock produced in the vicinity of Portage Entry it is said to have a liver texture. 
The most important producing locality is Portage Entry, sixteen miles southeast of 
Houghton. Here are four large quarries operating. The sheet of stone has a sSil 
covering of from sixteen to thirty feet, then four feet of broken rock or rubble, 
then the eight-foot sheet of clear brown stone. The stone is very uniform in color 
and texture, as indeed it is at all the quarries. 

The Portage Red Sandstone Company holds the land adjoining the above 

described property and the rock is the same in both. It may be of interest to 

those interested in quarries to know the composition of this rock and herewith is 

given an analysis, which may be taken as typical: 

Per cent. 

Silica 94.73 

Protoxide of iron 2.64 

Aluminum 0.36 

Carbonate of magnesia 0.75 

Carbonate of lime 0.69 

Water 0.74 

Loss, etc 0.09 

Total 100.00 



Upper Peninsula Kesources. 81 

The Lake Superior Red Sandstone Company is close neighbor to the foregoing 
operators, has an average of thirty feet of stripping and a sheet of clear stone 
eleven feet thick; while another quarry in the same vicinity, the Kerber-Jacobs, 
has twenty-five feet of covering and a sixteen-foot sheet; in places it has been 
found twenty feet. A cone four inches in diameter and fifteen feet, seven inches 
long, has been taken from this sheet and will be found exhibited in the Mich- 
igan department of the mining building. The magnificent triumphal arch found 
at the entrance to Michigan's mineral exhibit, is built of Portage Entry stone. It 
speaks for itself in its color, texture and carving qualities and a visit to it will 
well repay those interested in ornamental building stones. 

This stone is shipped as far west as Kansas City, Mo., south to St. Louis, and 
as far east as New York city and Philadelphia; Duluth, Chicago and Buffalo being 
the three lake ports used for distributing inland. The finest quality of the red- 
stone sells for ninety cents per cubic foot, delivered at any lake port, and 
variegated, i. e., streaked or mottled with white, for seventy-five cents per foot, 
Chicago, St. Louis and Buffalo each receive about twenty-five per cent of the 
annual shipment; Duluth, as a shipping point to St. Paul, Minneapolis and Kansas 
City, fifteen per cent, while the remaining ten per cent is shipped to Cleveland. 

OUTPUT OF THE SEVERAL QUARRIES IN CUBIC FEET DURING 1892. 

Portage Entry 226,000 

Portage Redstone Co 275,000 

Lake Superior Redstone Co 10,000 

Michigan Redstone Co. 50,000 

At Marquette the stone is of a different color. While retaining the same 
texture and weathering qualities as the redstone district, it is of brown and 
purplish hues, the former being the handsomest stone quarried on the lake, 
though the amount, unfortunately, is limited. A peculiarity of the purplish stone 
is the rain drop effect. When viewed in certain lights the stone appears as though 
a few heavy drops of rain had fallen on it and the moisture partly absorbed. It is 
a very general favorite with Chicago builders, and the palatial home of the Hon. J. 
M. Longyear, of the city of Marquette, is built of it. There are three or four sheets 
having an average of three and one-half feet thickness, and covered with four to 
forty feet of soil, the quarry being located on a hillside. It sells for 65 cents at the 
lake ports, while the variegated stone is worth 40 cents, the clear brownstone selling 
for S1..30 per cubic foot. At Rock River, 25 miles east of Marquette, a new purplish 
stone has been found and partly developed last year. It promises exceedingly well, 
as there is a clear sheet of redstone seven feet thick, overlaid by nineteen feet of soil 
and two of shaley stone. About 1,000 cubic feet were shipped last year. 

Note. — It is impossible to describe accurately these stone formations without at the same time making 
mention of special quarries and companies, and it is not intended to be understood that the wonderful 
sandstone formation of the upper peninsula is confined to places mentioned. It is confidently asserted 
that the richness, variety and extent of hidden formations is untested and unknown. Each year develops 
some hidden deposit far beyond even the suspicion of its existence. Neither was it intended that any 
one person should hold a master key to all the hidden recesses of nature's great storehouse. 

The upper peninsula is one of nature's great banking houses, whose capital stock is its deposits, sub- 
ject to be drawn only by the pick and shovel ; with no exacting cashier to count, no identification 
required, no security asked; simply locate the funds ; open the doors ; help yourself. 

11 



82 Michigan and its Resources. 



THE GOLD MINES. 

As if the upper peninsula were not sufficiently blest in its mineral resources,, 
with its vast treasures of iron ore that years will not suffice to exhaust; with 
its unique and wonderful deposits of native copper, the only occurrence of its 
kind in the world; with its stores of building stones, slates and clays, it must 
needs be further blest by the glittering of gold in veins. About four miles 
northwest of the city of Ishpeming is located the Ropes gold mine, so named 
after its discoverer, which has been in operation for 12 years. It offers to the 
visitor a trip of more than ordinary interest. Its 65 ponderous stamps dropping 
incessantly crushing the quartz and liberating the precious yellow metal, its 
vibrating vanning machines which save the baser metals with their share of 
gold — these all add features of interest to a trip to the mining regions of the 
upper peninsula. 

As has been stated by the commissioner of mineral statistics for 1885, a great 
deal has been said from time to time and innumerable conjectures made 
respecting the existence of gold among the mineral deposits of the Lake Supe- 
rior region. The discovery of veins of quartz fabulously rich in this precious 
metal has been so often reported and investigated that something more than 
the mere claims of interested parties were needed to establish public confidence, 
or even awaken interest in the reported finds of deposits rich in gold. Gold 
bearing quartz veins are not of infrequent occurrence; specimens of gold have 
been found in this district that for richness could not be excelled by any 
found in this country. The exhibit made a year or two ago of cabinet speci- 
mens was truly a remarkable one, both in point of number and value. 

Early geologists are said to have made verbal reports respecting their belief 
in the existence of gold, and among the earliest companies organized were 
those which intended to explore for gold or silver. It was not before 1886 
that this district attracted wide-spread attention owing to the phenomenal show- 
ing made upon the Michigan Gold Company's land and that of its immediate 
neighbors. These discoveries are about three miles west of the Ropes mine and 
are located in hills of serpentine and marble, many specimens of which had 
been collected and polished by Mr. Ropes. Great ridges of serpentine and mar- 
ble may be traced for miles. These minerals, as they are there found, are 
possessed of qualities of color, grain and texture that render the formation of 
great economic value. Slabs and pieces of this rock may be seen in a polished 
state at the exhibit in the mines and mining building. The whole formation has 
an east and west trend and is composed of bare, sharp ridges of serpentine, 
marble, magnesian schists, greenstone and quartzite, all correlated under the general 
term serpentine formation. 

Gold was first found in 1881 near the east line of the present property (S. J^ of the 
N. W. J^ Sec. 29, T. 48, R. 27) and 500 feet south of the northeast corner. To the west 
is greenstone, and south of it the massive serpentine, followed by magnesian schists, 
in which latter are found the various quartz seams, including the one in which the 
original discovery of gold was made. Regular mining was begun in 1882, and during 
the winter following a shaft was sunk 80 feet. The succeeding summer saw a 5-stamp 
mill erected, and it has continued its operations of sinking, drifting and topping 
ever since, with practically no stoppage. The five stamps have given place to a 



Upper Peninsula Kesources. 



83 



magnificent modern 65-6tamp mill and today the mine and surface equipments are 
in admirable shape and reflect credit upon the management. The mine is developed 
by two shafts, one of which is about 700 feet deep. They mill them locally. 

Following is a statement of the annual product of the Ropes Gold and Silver 
Company: 



Years. 




Ballion. 


Concentrates. 


Totals. 


1883 








$1,286 74 


1884 .. .. 


Bullion and concentrates . 






4,133 56 


1885 




$24,380 31 
38,499 93 
32,3.38 63 
45,183 78 
75,927 69 
56,543 10 
55.373 66 
42,208 06 


$3,210 09 
4,653 92 
2,592 03 
5,047 95 
9,540 96 
8,697 66 
7,535 51 
8,253 77 


27,590 40 


1886 




48,153 85 


1887 




34,930 66 


1888 




50,231 73 


1889 





85,468 65 


1890.. 




65,240 76 


1891 




62,909 17 


1892 




50,461 83 










Total 






$425,407 35 













The above figures are the net proceeds, after deducting refining charges, mint 
charges, freight charges and expenses. The gross product of the mine to date is 
$484,906.84. 

serpentines. 



The serpentine group, incidentally mentioned when describing the occurrence of 
gold, deserves more than a passing notice. The number of places in which this rock 
is found in the United States is quite large, but they do not all contain the precious 
serpentine, or what is known as verde antique. This field contains both the ordinary 
and the precious. The latter is a beautiful stone when polished, with its deep greens 
of all shades, while veinings or markings give it an added value. Large columns and 
slabs of it have been cut and polished, showing its susceptibility to such treat- 
ment and proving its adaptability for interior decorations. From the nature of the 
stone it is not at all fitted for exposure to the elements; but this statement is true of 
every rock having the same composition. It is a silicate of magnesia, carrying a 
considerable amount of water, and usually has a notable percentage of iron pro- 
toxides, together with chrome iron, hornblende, olivine, and minerals of the pyrox- 
ene group. It is a soft though somewhat tough rock of variable color, usually 
greenish, though often variously streaked and spotted with yellow, brownish, or 
more rarely red, its color depending upon the degree of oxidation undergone by the 
included iron minerals. 

There is a wide field here awaiting the advent of capital that is familiar with 
material of this kind, as the amount is inexhaustible. It can be readily reached by 
railroad, thus offering ready access to markets. A short haul of twenty miles would 
bring the rock to Marquette, whence it could be shipped to Buffalo for eastern 
markets or to Duluth for the western trade. 



WAVERLY STONE, HOLLAND. 



Quarries of Waverly stone are located at Holland, Ottawa county, State of Mich- 
igan and are in the sub-carboniferous sand rock, known to geologists as the Waverly 
formation from its extensive development at Waverly, Ohio. The stone is bluish 
gray, uniform in color, free from stains and spots, and from the iron pyrites which 
deface and stain the stone from some of the other localities in this formation. 
The cement is silica and when the stone is exposed to the air it hardens and 
becomes practically indestructible by heat, frost and atmospheric influence. It has 
an average crushing strength of 8,200 pounds to the cubic inch, as tested at the 
State University at Madison, Wisconsin. 

Its uniformity of color, fineness of grain and strength make it a superior stone 
for cutting, it being susceptible of the most delicate carving. 

Although the quarries have been very recently opened, the stone has been exten- 
sively used in western Michigan. In Muskegon, South Haven, Allegan and Hol- 
land some very fine and expensive buildings have been erected entirely of this 
stone and excite the admiration of all who see them, and the stone is being freely 
used in all the best structures for foundations and trimmings, the greater share 
going to the cities of Grand Rapids and Muskegon. 



GRINDSTONE. 



The grindstone quarrieB of Huron county were first discovered by Capt. A. G. 
Peer about the year 1850. These quarries are situated at Grindstone City, on the 
shores of Lake Huron, twenty-four miles northeast of Bad Axe, the county seat, 
and ninety miles above Port Huron. The stone of Huron county is the most val- 
uable for wet grinding found in the United States. Lake Huron blue stone is 
known in every market in the United States and in some foreign countries. The 
demand for scythe stones and grindstones, from the five pound kitchen stone to 
those used in large factories and weighing nearly 9,000 pounds, exceeds the supply 
and this, notwithstanding increased facilities have been added each year. About 
10,000 tons of grindstones and 12,000 gross of scythe stones are manufactured annu- 
ally and the supply is unlimited. These quarries are operated by the Cleveland 
Stone Company and the Lake Huron Stone Company. 

About twenty-four miles south and west from Grindstone City, near Bay Port, 
on Saginaw Bay, are located the Bay Port quarries, which, though not at present 
actively engaged in the manufacture of grindstones, have several layers of coarse 
and fine sandstone, six to ten feet in thickness, and similar in quality to the 
renowned grindstone of Grindstone City. 



CHARCOAL PIG IRON. 



In the production of charcoal pig iron. Michigan leads all the states as well as 
in iron ore. The census of 1890 report in operation in twenty-four states, one hun- 
dred and nineteen charcoal plant furnaces, representing a total capital of $20,068,- 
715, with a total product in the year of 664,497 tons of charcoal pig, valued at 
$11,985,103. Of these values Michigan's twenty-one furnaces produced $3,982,287, 
almost one-third, Alabama and Wisconsin coming next with $1,940,875 and $1,464,- 
775 respectively. Michigan's capital united in 1890 was $5,689,701, more than a 
quarter of the whole,, an increase over 1880 of $2,500,000, while the value of the 
output increased $837,000 over 1880 despite the great fall in prices. There was an 
increase in 1890 over 1880 in the total product of charcoal pig iron in the United 
States of 229,479 tons, or fifty-two and three-quarters per cent, and yet the value 
of the total product for 1880 exceeded that for 1890 by $890,893. 

The Michigan furnace companies employed six hundred and seventy-five hands 
in 1890 exclusive of officers, clerks and salesmen, and paid to them $321,032 in 
wages. 



RIVERS AND WATER POWERS IN MICHIGAN. 



BY S. B. M'CEACKEN. 



It would be impossible without a scientific survey to give a full presentation of 
the water power facilities of Michigan. The plan pursued in compiling the mat- 
ter herein was by circulars addressed to members of committees working in eon- 
junction with the Michigan World's Fair Managers and others, in the various 
localities. The replies to these circulars were in many cases prompt and quite full, 
while in very many other cases no replies were received. The matter as presented 
herein makes the best showing possible under the circumstances. The compiler's 
personal acquaintance with the lower peninsula (more especially the southern part 
of it), has made possible a fuller report upon that section than upon other parts 
of the state. 

It should be borne in mind, however, that the reports from which the matter is 
made up are merely the conceptions of those having but a practical knowledge of 
the several localities, and are largely little else than guess work. It is believed 
that the estimates are in most cases below the facts. To be accurate and reliable 
the facts should be ascertained by scientific methods which alone are exact. 

In treating of the different rivers much use has necessarily been made of the 
maps, and it is proper to say that these do not in all cases agree. The altitudes 
given have reference to lake levels and are on the basis of railroad surveys. These 
do not in all cases show the water levels, as the point from which they are com- 
puted sometimes lie considerable higher than the mean levels through which the 
streams flow. 

Prof. F. W. Denton, of the Mining School at Houghton, very kindly undertook 
to make report upon the water power of the upper peninsula. He writes, however, 
that the responses to the circulai's sent out by him have been very meagre, not 
more than three or four having been received. He adds, "The trouble has been 
largely, I think, because the data called for was not commonly known, and few 
understood enough of the subject to risk an estimate. Such a report as this, to 
be of value requires some one to travel and collect the data on the spot." Prof. 
Denton's report, however, will be found of interest, as it is hoped the matter as a 
whole may be. 



88 Michigan and its Eesources. 

the eastekn watershed of the lower peninsula. 

Dividing on the straits of Mackinac and following the east coast line of the- 
State southward, as the Pigeon, Cheboygan, Sturgeon, Rainy and Oequeoc all 
rising in Otsego and Montmorency counties, and emptying into upper Lake Huron. 
At Alpena is Thunder Bay river, with numerous branches, draining Alpena 
county, the eastern portion of Montmorency and the more northern portions of 
Oscoda and Alcona counties. It is an enduring stream being fed by numerous 
lakes and affords many water power sites of ten to sixteen feet fall each and of 
six hundred to one thousand horse power. 

The powers are not much developed for manufacturing purposes, although there 
are many drains built for log floating. Of equal importance with the last named 
is the Au Sable river which with its branches chains the counties of Otsego, 
Crawford, Oscoda and portions of Alcona and Iosco, emptying into the lake at Au 
Sable. At Grayling, in Crawford county, the railway survey shows an altitude of 
553 feet above lake level, and at Bagley, in Otsego county, of 703 feet. This eleva- 
tion, with a stream of considerable volume, must afford an immense hydraulic 
force. The Pine river, a comparatively small stream, enters the lake a few miles 
above Au Sable. Emptying into the north side of Saginaw bay are the Au Gres and 
Rifle rivers, both considerable streams. Passing the Saginaw river and its conflu- 
ents, which are treated of under the head of the "Saginaw Valley," a number of 
small streams enter Lake Huron at the upper point of the "Thumb." Belle river, 
rising in Lapeer county, with an elevation at Imlay City of 248 feet above lake 
level and with a traverse distance of over forty miles, empties into St. Clair river, 
a short distance below the city of St. Clair. Other streams on the eastern slope 
are treated under separate heads. 

THE SAGINAW VALLEY. 

The Saginaw Valley will be understood to embrace the region of country the 
drainage of which finds its way into Saginaw bay through the river of the same 
name. The valley may be said to have a length of about one hundred and forty 
miles from Oakland and Livingston counties on the south to Roscommon county 
on the north, where the Tittabawassee river approaches nearly to Houghton lake^ 
the main source of the Muskegon river which flows in the opposite direction. The 
valley has a breadth nearly equal to its length from the head waters of the Cass 
river in Huron county to the eastward to a point where the Chippewa becomes a 
near neighbor to the Muskegon in Osceola county on the west. The Saginaw 
river proper is a short stream, scarcely more than twenty miles in length, and it 
is formed by the junction of the Cass, Shiawassee and Tittabawassee rivers, the 
latter also receiving the waters of the Chippewa, Pine and Tobacco rivers. The 
Saginaw itself affords no water power. 

John Larkin of Midland, Hon. B. W. Huston of Vassar, Thomas D. Dewey of 
Owosso, Hon. J. W. Begole of Flint, and J. K. Tisdall of Davisburg, furnished 
the information under this head. 

The Tittabawassee river rises in Roscommon county and is more than a hundred 
miles in length as the river runs. At its source the elevation above the lake level is 
nearly 400 feet. The river is navigable for small craft as far up as Midland city, 



KiVERS AND Water Powers in Michigan. 89 

some 30 miles from its mouth, and was so used up to 1861, since which time it has 
been used only for log running and storage. The fall below Midland city is only 
some ten feet, affording no water power. From a considerable distance above Mid- 
land the river to its mouth is 250 to 300 feet wide, with an average summer depth of 
two to three feet. Above the confluence of the Chippewa the average depth is one- 
half to two feet. There are available but unimproved water power sites the entire 
length of the river above Midland every ten or twelve miles. 

The Chippewa rises mainly in Clare county, runs south and east through Isabella 
into Midland county and has a traverse distance of fully 100 miles until it empties 
into the Tittabawassee at Midland. It ranges in width from 100 to 1.50 feet, with a 
summer depth at its mouth of one and one-half to two feet. There is a fine water 
power in operation at Mt. Pleasant in Isabella county and there are available sites 
at short distances its entire course. The elevation above lake level at the source of 
the Chippewa is 400 to 450 feet. The Pine river rises in Mecosta county, makes a 
southern detour into Gratiot and Montcalm, and discharges into the Chippewa near 
its mouth. There are fine water power improvements at St. Louis and Alma, in 
Gratiot county. The river, as to its length, volume and water power capacity, is 
about the same as the Chippewa. The Tobacco river rises in Clare county, has a 
flow of 50 to 75 miles, passes through the southwest corner of Gladwin county and 
empties into the Tittabawassee near the north line of Midland, and affords a num- 
ber of available water power sites. Dams have been built on all of the four streams 
as aids to log driving in low water, so that the sites are but little used for mill 
purposes. The streams drain near 4,000 square miles and are fed from springs and 
beautiful clear lakes, the latter mainly in Clair, Isabella, Roscommon and Gladwin 
counties. 

Cass river rises in Sanilac county, runs southeast, and empties in Saginaw river. 
It is fed by springs and small streams. There is improved water power at Vassar, 
in Tuscola county, and at Frankenmuth, in Saginaw county, with six feet fall and 
100 horse power at Vassar. There are eligible sites at Tuscola and at Wahjamega, 
both in Tuscola county, that were formerly improved, but the dams have been 
washed away and they are not now used. The river has a descent of 61 feet from 
Vassar to its mouth. 

The Shiawassee river rises partly in Oakland and partly in Livingston county, 
and has a northward course of 50 to 60 miles. It is fed by springs and lakes. 
There is improved power of fourteen to 16 feet fall at Davisburg and Holly in Oak- 
land county. In Shiawassee county there is improved power at Byron, Nogs Bridge, 
Newburg, Shiawassee Town, Roberts Mills, Corunna and New Haven. 

During summer the water supply is limited and the dam at Owosso has for some 
years been disused fur this reason. At other seasons the volume of water is ample. 
The altitudes above the lake level are: Davisburg, 377 feet; Holly, 356; Corunna, 
194; Owosso, 163. 

Flint river is one of the most important of the single confluents of the Sag - 
inaw. It has its source in four small lakes in Lapeer county, giving it a perma- 
nent and comparatively full volume of water, though the supply is somewhat 
limited in summer. It is a remarkably crooked stream, making first northward 
some twenty miles then southward by a zigzag course through Genesee county 
half the distance and then northwestward to the Saginaw. 
12 



90 Michigan and its Eesources. 

The first power in Genesee county is the Genesee mills, flouring, ten miles- 
above the city of Flint, with a fall of eight feet. There are within the corporate 
limits of Flint a flouring mill with a capacity of 100 barrels of flour per day 
(besides custom work) and a large paper mill. The Thread river, which comes 
in at Flint, formerly carried a .300-barrel flouring mill, which was recently burned. 
Three miles below Flint is a 100-barreI flouring mill, and at Flushing, ten miles 
below, a 200-barrel mill. The head at these sites is from 7 to 10 feet. The 
altitudes above lake level are, Lapeer 248 feet, Flint 233. Farmers and Kearsley 
creeks are tributaries of the Flint river, each affording water power sites. 

WATER POWER OF OAKLAND COUNTY. 

With no large rivers passing through it, the county of Oakland yet holds 
within herself an immense hydraulic force, while she gives rise to streams that 
expend their force in different directions in other counties. The county is really 
the divide from which flows the Huron to the southwest, the Shiawassee to 
the north, the Clinton to the east and the Rouge to the south. 

The divide as to the three first named rivers embraces but a small radius, 
with its center near the village of Clarkson, with an elevation of .356 feet above 
lake level. There also flows northward from the same divide the Kearsley creek, 
which empties into the Flint river, and furnishes a power at Ortonville in Oak- 
land county and at points in Genesee countj'. The number of lakes in the 
county, large and small, is variously estimated at 250 to 400 and are unfailing 
feeders to these rivers. 

The rivers named, except the Clinton, are mentioned under the proper heads. 
The Clinton, being so largely an Oakland county stream, is included under this 
head. 

The Shiawassee river affords power at Holly and Davisburg in Oakland 
county and the Huron at Commerce and Milford. The Rouge also affords sev- 
eral small powers in the county. Pettibone creek is a small stream about eight 
miles long, rising in a lake in the town of Highland, passing through a chain 
of lakes and emptying into the Huron at Milford village. It has a fall of 
about a hundred feet in the eight miles. It furnishes two powers of 20 feet fall 
and 30 horse power, each in Highland township, one of 18 feet fall and 40 
horse power at Commerce village, and three at Milford of 10, 20 and 23 feet, 
and 15 to 40 horse power each. At the village of Orion, near the northeast 
corner of the county, is a unique water power formed by throwing a dam across 
a small stream, Paint creek, at the foot of a cluster of small lakes, throwing 
the lakes into a common pond covering some 1,600 acres, dotted with a number 
of islands, the largest containing some 30 acres. The extent of the water sur- 
face gives a steady flow little affected by drouth. The power carries a large 
flouring mill at Orion with 13 feet fall, and another a mile below with 22 feet 
fall. Some five miles southeast from Orion, at Goodison's, the same stream 
carries another flour mill, and supplies another power also at Rochester. 

At Ithaca, in Macomb county, is a fine power furnished by the Old Clinton 
and Kalamazoo canal, the water for which comes from the Oakland county 
reservoirs. 

The Clinton river has its rise in two branches, one in the township of Inde- 



Rivers and Water Powers in Michigan. 



91 



pendence and the other in the township of Springfield, Oakland county. It trav- 
erses nearly the entire width of Oakland county and runs through three townships 
in Macomb county, and empties into Lake St. Clair, four or five miles below Mt 
Clemens. It passes over a land surface of about fifty miles, although describing a 
water-course much greater. 

It is fed by a chain of lakes until it reaches Pontiac. It affords about a dozen 
sites for water power, as follows: 



Location of power. 


Altitude 
feet. 


Fall 

feet. 


Horse 
power. 


Springfield branch. 




10 
22.6 
6 

8 

6 

6 
12 
16 

10 
16 

18 
22 


20 


Independence branch, Clarkston 




35 


Deer Lake.. 




40 


Waterford . . ...... 


406 


30 to 40 


Clintonville 


30 to 40 


Drayton Plains .... . . . 




25 


Dawson's mill 




50 


Pontiac 


352 


75 


Paddock's mill _ 




Amy (formerly Auburn ).-- . 






Rochester . . ... . 


165 

■ 78 




Utica 









Oliver A. Smith, of Clarkston, and J. A. Andrews, of Milford, supply information 
under this head. 

THE BLACK RIVER. 

This river rises in two branches, the north branch in Sanilac and the south 
branch in Lapeer county. It is a very crooked stream and enters St. Clair river 
at Port Huron. The following figures are compiled from information furnished 
by J. L. Paldi, civil engineer, and the Hon. W, L. Bancroft: 



Location of power. 


Fall 
feet. 


Horse 
power. 


Wadham's (abandoned). 


8 
10 
8 
6 

6 
10 
10 

7 


40 


Beard's mill . . 


60 


Comstock's (abandoned). _ 


56 


Com well's (abandoned) 


28 


Pack's mill... . . 


28 


Abbotsford on Mill creek 


40 


Brockway " 


18 


Yale (abondoned) 


12 







The descent from Crosswell to lake level is 148 feet. 

THE HURON RIVER. 

There are few streams carrying the volume of vi'ater that the Huron does that 
furnish so large an amount of water power. It has its direct rise in Oakland 
county, among the numerous lakes of that region, and receives an accession at 
Milford through the Pettibone creek, which also drains a chain of lakes and 



92 Michigan and its Resoukces. 

affords some water power at Milford, and at other points in Oakland county, 
which are noted under that head. Below Milford the Huron passes through a 
corner of Livingston, and thence into Washtenaw county, draining in its course a 
number of lakes. The largest of which is Portage lake, near the south line of 
Livingston county. The elevation above lake level at this point is about two hun- 
dred and eighty feet. The lake area is estimated at fifty square miles, and the 
watershed (by census report of 1880) at nine hundred and fifty square miles. 
Passing out of Washtenaw county below Ypsilanti into Wayne, the river reaches 
Lake Erie a few miles below the mouth of the Detroit river. The Huron passes 
through a land surface measuring about seventy miles, but its river course cannot 
be estimated at less than one hundred miles, and may considerably exceed that. 
The river was navigable for small craft as far up as Ypsilanti in the earlier days, 
but the railway connection with that place and the building of dams below it 
closed it for transit purposes. The water power below Portage Lake amounts to 
sixteen or eighteen, with horse power from sixty to six hundred, in all about two 
thousand three hundred horse power. Mill creek, a small stream comes in at 
Dexter with twelve feet fall and about fifty horse power, furnishing power for a 
flour mill; and at Ann Arbor a spring brook from the westward furnishes power 
for a small machine shop and a flour mill, and another small stream from the 
east supplied a small flour mill. 

Col. H. S. Dean of Ann Arbor, who supplied the information above in connec- 
tion with Thomas Beckett writes: " The course of the river through the numerous 
lakes affords much beautiful scenery, the wildness of some of the lakes (and sur- 
roundings), being almost beyond belief in counties as long settled as Oakland, 
Livingston and Washtenaw. From Unadilla to Milford one may pass in a small 
boat from lake to lake, through one portion of the Huron to another a distance of 
many miles, through constantly changing scenery. This region is each year becom- 
ing more of a pleasure resort, and numerous club houses and cottages are being 
erected on the shores of the various lakes. The whole course of the river is very 
irregular and winding. The Michigan Central railroad crosses it fifteen times 
between Dexter and Ypsilanti, a distance of seventeen miles. 

KIVEK ROUGE. 

This is a small stream, but with a descent of nearly two hundred feet to the 
lake level in a distance of less than forty miles, it affords a valuable power. It 
has two branches, both rising in Oakland county. One branch, rising in Bloom- 
field, affords five small powers, namely: Morris' grist mill (unused), W. H. Smith's 
saw and cider mill, two and two and one-half miles, respectively, north of Bir- 
mingham, Birmingham flour mill, Erity's flour and saw mill two miles south of Bir- 
mingham, and the Southfield flour mill. The other branch springs from Walled 
lake, in the township of Commerce. The course of the stream is southeasterly 
until it empties into the Detroit river four miles below the city. It is fed in addi- 
tion to its lake source by springs and small streams, and has an estimated water 
shed of three hundred and sixty square miles. It affords power in addition to 
above for five establishments of from twelve to forty-five horse power each. 

C. B. Crosby, of Plymouth, and A. Partridge, of Birmingham, supply informa- 
tion in the above. 



Rivers and Water Powers in Michigan. 



93 



THE RIVER RAISIN. 

This important milling stream of southeastern Michigan has its rise in Jackson, 
Lenawee and Hillsdale counties. It drains the greater part of Lenawee, the south- 
eastern portion of Jackson, northeastern part of Hillsdale, and southwestern part 
of Washtenaw, and traverses the width of Monroe county to its mouth on lake 
Erie, a short distance below the city of Monroe. For the information regarding 
this stream and its water power capacity the compiler is indebted to Andrew 
Spalding and J. Robison, of Manchester. From their report the following facts 
are elicited: 



Location of power. 



369 
334 



259 



231 



Brooklyn 

Norvel mill. 

Manchester, first fall.. 

" second fall 

" third fall 

River Raisin, Bridgewater township 

Sharon 

Norris (nnnsed) 

Iron Creek (anused) 

Clinton 

Newbnrg ._ 

Tecomseh (paper mill) 

" (Hayden'e mill) 

" (Boyd & Root's mill) 

Adrian 

Palmyra 

Blissfield 

Deerfield 

Petersburg 

Dnndee 

West Raisinville.. 

East " 

Frenchtown 

Monroe (Waterloo mills) 

" (unused power) 



Fall 


Horse 


feet. 


power. 


8 


25 


7 


40 


14 


170 


7 


60 


12 


125 


6 


40 


6'/2 


50 


6 


40 


6 


40 


11 


60 


5 


30 


11 


60 


17 


100 


8 


50 


16 


60 


7 


222 


7 


222 


7 


222 


8 


260 


6 


168 


9 


370 


8 


200 


6 


200 


9 


370 


8 


300 



Altitude 
feet. 



19U 



10&-. 



In transmitting his report of power below Adrain, Mr. Spalding says: "I have 
submitted my report to various mill men and they all say that it is below the 
actual capacity of the stream." 

THE WESTERN WATER SHED OF THE LOWER PENINSULA, 



Up the eastern shore of Lake Michigan are three streams called Black river, the 
first with three important branches emptying at South Haven, the second at Black 
lake, and the third at Crimea. The first of these furnishes small powers at Breds- 
ville, Bangor, Jerico, and at two or three other points in Van Buren county. The 
White river rises near the center of Newaygo county, passes through a corner of 
Oceana into Muskegon county, and empties into White lake, an arm of Lake Michi- 
gan, at Whitehall and Montague. Its descent from source to mouth is estimated at 
two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet. It has developed water powers at 
Whitecloud, Alleyton, iEtna and Hesperia in Newaygo county. The Pentwater 
river enters Lake Michigan at Pentwater, the Big Sable at Point Sable, and the 
Manistee at Manistee. The Betsie river traverses portions of Benzie and Manistee 



94 Michigan and its Resources. 

counties and empties into Lake Michigan at Frankfort, affording a water power at 
that point. The Platte river enters the lake some miles above, but its water power 
capacity is unknown. The Bear river, Eapid river and Bear creek find their way 
into the waters of Traverse bay at various points and the Maple river empties 
into the Straits of Mackinaw. 

THE ST. JOSEPH VALLEY. 

The St. Joseph river drains the southern tier of counties in Michigan from Hills- 
dale county, where it has its rise, westward to Lake Michigan. Within a small 
radius from where the corners of Lenawee and Hillsdale join Jackson county, is 
an elevation of nearly four hundred feet above lake level, from which flows the 
St. Joseph river to the west, the Kalamazoo and the Grand to the northwest, the 
Raisin to the east and the southwest, and several small streams southward into Ohio. 
The St. Joseph furnishes power with eleven feet fall at Jonesville, at Genesee mills 
below Jonesville, and at Litchfield in Hillsdale county. The outlet of Baw Beese 
lake draining into the St. Joseph furnishes a power at the city of Hillsdale. At 
Union City in Branch county the St, Joseph receives the waters of Coldwater river, 
on which there are four powers reported; two at Coldwater city with seven and one- 
half and sixteen feet fall, respectively, and one in Coldwater township, and one at 
Hodunk of eight and nine feet fall. There are light powers arising from creeks in 
other parts of Branch county. 

At Three Rivers, in St. Joseph county, the St. Joseph river receives the waters 
of the Portage and Rock rivers. Three Rivers is an important manufacturing 
point, having a combined water power from the three streams that meet there of 
five hundred and twenty-five horse power. The Portage river has but one power 
and that at Three Rivers. The Rock river has besides that at Three Rivers a fifty 
horse power at Flowerfield and Howardsville. The St. Joseph affords power in St. 
Joseph county, in Park township, at Three Rivers and at Constantine of seventy- 
five, two hundred and fifty and two hundred horse power, respectively. At Niles, 
in Berrien county, there is a fine power capacity not stated. From the southwest 
corner of St. Joseph county the river passes into the state of Indiana and bending 
again northward gives the name to the flourishing city of South Bend, at which 
point, and at Elkhart and Mishawauka, in Indiana, it affords valuable power. 
Returning to Michigan it flows through the city of Niles and thence finds its way 
into Lake Michigan at St. Joseph and Benton Harbor. 

The altitudes above lake level at the principal points named above are: Hills- 
dale, 51,3 feet; Jonesville, 495; Union City, 318; Three Rivers, 223; Constantine, 221; 
Niles, 115. 

The information under this head is supplied by Hon. E. O. Grosvenor, of Jones- 
ville, Hon. C. D. Randall, of Coldwater, and E. B. Linsley, of Three Rivers. Hon. 
J. J. Woodman, of Paw Paw, supplies some statistics of the Paw Paw river, a trib- 
utary of the St. Joseph, which rises in Van Buren county and empties into the 
St. Joseph near its mouth, being fed by springs, tributary streams and lakes. 

There are five improved powers at Paw Paw with from twenty-five to fifty-three 
horse power, one at Watervleit of six hundred, and one at Hartford with one hun- 
dred horse power, and two unimproved. 



EivERS AND Water Powers in Michigan. 



95 



THE KALAMAZOO RIVER. 

This important Michigan river rises in two branches near the boundary line 
between Hillsdale and Jackson counties and runs diagonally through portions of 
Jackson, Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Allegan counties, emptying into Lake Michigan 
at Saugatuck. Its general course gives it a traverse route of about one hundred 
-and twenty miles, the stream measurement, however, by its windings being much 
more. The information regarding its tributaries is incomplete. At the city of 
Battle Creek the stream of that name enters the Kalamazoo from the northeast. 
It affords a power at Bellevue, in Eaton county, as reported by Wm. Merritt, of 
Battle Creek, of twelve feet fall and one hundred horse power, and at Verona 
mills, three miles above Battle Creek city, of six feet fall and one hundred horse 
power. The other information under this head is derived mainly from Geo. S. 
Pierson, a civil engineer at Kalamazoo, and Hon. W. B. Williams, of Allegan, and 
the following statement is made from these sources. We have between Jackson 
and Allegan seventeen powers ranging from seventy-five to three thousand horse 
powers, as follows: 



Location of power. 


Altitude 
feet. 


Fall 
feet. 


Horse 
power. 


Bath Mills, Jackson county .. _.. 








Homer, Calhoun county 


890 
361 
316 






Albion 






Marshall 


18 


250 


•Ceresco 




Battle Creek 


237 
207 
206 
200 
195 






Augusta, Kalamazoo county.. . . 






Galesburg. ... .. 




100 


Comstock 




100 


Kalamazoo 


22 


200 


Yorkville 


125 


Painsville, Allegan county 


162 
128 
126 




600 


Otsego . . 


12 
8 to 12 


3,000 


Allegan 


1,200 







The figures are necessarily but approximations only. In transmitting his report 
Mr. Pierson says: " There is still undeveloped power at Otsego and above Kala- 
mazoo on the main river, and at numerous points on the tributary streams.'' 

The water shed of the river and its tributaries has an area of about four hun- 
dred and fifty square miles. The flow of the river at Kalamazoo, October 28, 1880, 
was 567,879,840 gallons per day, which is about the average stage of the river at 
this point. The Hon. W. B. Williama adds: "There is small power at Mill Grove, 
on the outlet to Demerest lake, and at Pine Creek, near Otsego, on a creek by 
that name, and also on Swan creek about seven miles northwest from Allegan. 
There is also a good water power at Hamiltoo, in Allegan county, on the Rabbit 
river." 

Persons familiar with the hydraulics can form some estimate of the immense 
water power afforded by the Kalamazoo river by comparing the flow of the river 
as given by Mr. Pierson with the altitudes as given in the table. 



96 Michigan and its Eesources. 

the grand river valley. 

The Grand river and its tributaries form one of the most extensive water sys- 
tems in the lower peninsula. The Grand river itself traverses five counties from 
its rise, near the southern line of Jackson county, being northerly through Jack- 
son, Lansing and Grand Ledge to the city of Ionia, whence its course is westward 
to its discharge into Lake Michigan at Grand Haven. Measurements by fairly 
straight lines the river would have a course of fully 200 miles, while its windings 
would give nearly, if not twice, that distance. Its drainage above Grand Rapids is 
computed to be more than 4,800 square miles. 

At Lansing the Grand river receives the water of Cedar river, at Portland the 
Lookingglass river, at Muir the Maple, at Lowell the Flat, at Ada the Thorn- 
apple, and near Grand Rapids the Rouge river, besides a number of smaller 
streams at different points. 

WATER POWERS OF THE GRAND RIVER. 

Water powers varying from 75 to 2,000 horse power are found at Leoni, Mich- 
igan Center, Liberty, Summit and Jackson, in Jackson county; Onondaga, 
in Ingham county; Dimondale, in Eaton county; North and South Lansing, in 
Ingham county; Grand Ledge, in Eaton county; Portland and Lyons, in Ionia, 
and the greatest of all at Grand Rapids, in Kent county. Besides these the 
tributaries in many cases furnish powers of from seventeen to three hundred horse 
power. H. A. Hayden, of Jackson, gives the fall at Jackson at seven and one- 
half feet, Onondaga six, Eaton Rapids eight, Dimondale six and one-half. 

E. W. Sparrow, of Lansing, states the fall at North Lansing to be eight feet, 
and at South Lansing five feet. L. B. Townsend, of Ionia, states the fall in two 
dams at Hubbardston, on Lookingglass river, to be eighteen feet, and at Dixon's 
creek ten feet. The fall of Prairie creek, emptying into the Grand river at Ionia, 
in a distance of about four miles, is about forty-one feet, making several fine 
water powers ranging from seventeen to forty-five horse power. Neal McMillan^ 
of Rockford, states that from Child's Mill to Briggs Reef, on Rogers river, the 
fall is forty feet, with horse power from seventy-five to one hundred and seventy- 
five. On nearly all the tributaries emptying into Grand River there are falls 
capable of being utilized into powers. A very satisfactory peculiaritay of these 
streams is the even flow of water, varying but little through the year. Michi- 
gan very rarely suffers inconvenience from floods, there being no mountain sides 
to shed a deluge of water into the valleys and streams. Grand river carrying^ 
off the surplus of more than 4,000 square miles seldom gets out of its banks. It 
pursues its winding way from Jackson to Lake Michigan, creeping through val- 
leys, rolling over rapids, tumbling over falls, meandering majestically through 
romantic scenery, occasionally dividing itself, forming beautiful little islands, fre- 
quently deepening to make homes for the finny tribe, with which it is abund- 
antly stocked. 

Fishing in Michigan streams is and always will be pre-eminently great sport, 
unlike fishing in canals and navigable streams where it is about as good one 
place as another. To catch fish you must go where they are. An Irishman 
speaking of the fishing in Michigan said it was just as good in one place as 
another, and a great deal better. 



RiVEKS AND WaTEE PoWEES IN MICHIGAN. 



97 



THE MUSKEGON EIVEE. 

This is the greatest water power river of Western Michigan, larger in its own 
volume than the Grand river except as the latter approaches the lake, and but 
for the larger and more numerous confluents of the Grand, would rank first in 
the river systems of the State. It rises in Higgins and Houghton lakes in Ros- 
common county, passes through portions of six counties and empties into Mus- 
kegon lake at Muskegon, the latter being joined with Lake Michigan by a short 
connecting strait. Roscommon station, on the Michigan Central railroad, within 
the width of a township of the headwaters of the Muskegon, according to the 
survey, lies five hundred and forty-six feet above lake level, and Big Rapids lies 
three hundred and thirty-four feet above the lake. The windings of the river 
cover about three hundred miles from head to mouth. Hon. Michael Brown, of 
Big Rapids, supplies the following statistics of water power in Mecosta county: 



Location of power. 



Montague (Muskegon river)_ 

Paris 

Upper Big Rapids (Muskegon river).. 

Lower Big Rapids (Muskegon river] 

Rogers farm 

Mitchell's farm (Muskegon river) ! 

Paris (Paris creek) 

Ryan creek (near Big Rapids) 

Ryan creek (at fork of Chippewa river, Mecosta county) 



Fall 


Horse 


feet. 


power. 


10 


200 


9 


150 


9 


175 


6 


150 


9 


200 


10 


240 


24 


75 


20 


100 


12 





Judge Brown adds: Paris creek is a short stream fed entirely by springs and 
spring brooks, never failing as a water power, and with the large fall reported, 
furnishes a very excellent power. 

Ryan creek is the outlet of two spall lakes in this county. 

Of course the Muskegon river furnishes by far the largest amount of water power 
of any stream in the county. I do not believe that there is a river in the State 
that will equal it. The fiow of water is regular and constant, the river never rising 
more than three feet. In fact the flow does not vary so as to cause any danger 
whatever to dams and manufactories. The flow of water at different points in 
Mecosta county ranges from 3,800 to 5,800 inches. At Newaygo village is a dam 
with 12 feet fall (which could be raised higher), giving a present horse power of 
1,500, low water run. Pennoyer Creek and Brooks creek both come in at Newaygo, 
the former furnishing a 75 horse power dam and the latter 50 horse power, both 
improved. On the Muskegon river dam is a large saw mill, flour mill, planing mill 
and tub and pail factory. On Pennoyer creek is a furniture factory, and on Brooks 
creek a flour mill. Below Croton there is a heavy fall in the Muskegon where a 
.30-foot head could be obtained. At Bridgton, below Newaygo, there is also a fall 
which could be developed. 

It is said that by building a dam at Muskegon a head of 16 feet could be had, 
giving over 20,000 horse power. Other statistics of the Muskegon and its tribu- 
taries are wanting, but from those given above some estimate can be found of the 
value of this stream for hydraulic uses. 

13 



98 Michigan and its Resources. 



MASON COUNTY. 

George N. Stray and John L. Woodruff, of Ludington, write of the water power 
in Mason county: Lincoln river is fed by a lake three miles by one-half mile in 
extent and has a water shed of about 3 by 15 miles. It affords an 80 horse power 
site two miles north of Ludington. Hamlin river has a lake reservoir of 10 square 
miles and a water shed of 150 square miles, and 7 miles north of Ludington has a 
160 horse power site. The powers on the two rivers have been used, but are not 
now. Baldwin, Kinnie and \Veldon creeks, tributaries of the Pei'e Marquette, have 
improved powers in Mason county, and the Sweetwater, Winnippesogee, Beaver 
and Cedar creeks are susceptible of improvement. Also the middle and south 
branches of the Pere Marquette. 

WATER POWER AT THE SAULT STE. MARIE. 

The fall or rapid at the foot of Lake Superior is known by the French desig- 
nation of the Sault Ste. Marie, which takes the briefer and more familiar form 
of the Soo. John G. Stradley, of the city of Sault Ste. Marie, writes of the possi- 
bilities of the water power at that point. 

In the fall of 1890 a survey of the river St. Marys was made to ascertain the 
actual flow of water over the rapids. The amount per second is over 100,000 
cubic feet, and the estimated horse power is so near 300,000 that it is fixed at 
that figure for the whole river. The river being an international boundary line 
the Canadians would probably be entitled to one-half of the power if they saw fit 
to develop it. The full flow of the river can be used for power, less the amount 
required to operate the locks in the ship canal. The length of the rapids is about 
three-quarters of a mile, and the fall eighteen and one-half feet. If little rapids 
is included, the fall will be about twenty feet. This head can be raised two and 
one-half or three feet by building a dam across the head of the rapids, which 
would raise the entire of Lake Superior. This would make a large increase in the 
power and is pronounced practical by both government and civil engineers, and 
the cost would be nominal compared with the benefits. A small part of the power 
is already developed by throwing a wing dam out into the rapids running an 
embankment up to the head. This wing dam is only about half way down the 
rapids and is called the Chandler-Dunbar water power. This has nothing to do 
with the large water power and does not interfere with it. The plans for the 
development contemplate a canal over three miles in length, six hundred feet 
wide and carrying eighteen feet depth of water its entire length. This would 
develop the largest water power in the world, and is so situated that every mill 
or factory built on it can have a train of cars at one door and the largest 
steamer that runs the lakes at another. There is no other place on the conti- 
nent where this can be done. If the canal is constructed on the plan contem- 
plated it will cost $5,000,000. 



WATER POWER OF THE UPPER PENINSULA. 



BY PROF. F. W. DENTON, OF MICHIGAN MINING SCHOOL. 



The upper peninsula of Michigan comprises 22,580 square miles of area, and 
its topography may be classed as rough, it being largely made up of hills and 
ridges. The shore along Lake Superior is steep and rocky throughout, reaching 
elevations of four hundred to six hundred feet above the level of the lake in dis- 
tance from the shore usually under fifteen miles. The main river systems have 
their sources near the south side of the northern range of high land, and flow in 
a, southerly direction, approximately at right angles to the south shore of Lake 
Superior, and empty into Lake Michigan. The peninsula being long and narrow, 
the lengths of the watersheds are necessarily very limited, and owing to the numerous 
lesser ridges and ranges of hills running parallel to the rivers, the widths of the 
watersheds are likewise very limited. In fact there is but one river in this territory, 
which can be said to furnish first class water power, and that is the Menominee 
river, which is formed by the junction of the Bois Brule and the Michigamme 
rivers, and flows southeast and empties into Green bay. The Menominee throughout 
its length forms the boundary between the upper peninsula and the state of Wiscon- 
sin. It therefore flows across the base of the peninsula, thus draining a much 
larger territory than any other river in this district. Its feeders in Michigan are 
classed among the largest streams. Although the Menominee is the only river that 
furnishes a large amount of water power there are a number of lesser streams which 
undoubtedly furnish power which might be economically used. 

RAINFALL. 

The late Professor Winchell, in his report upon the topography, climate, and 
geology of Michigan (1873), gives the following figures for the upper peninsula: 

Copper Falls, five years 37.2.3 

Ontonagon, twelve " 24.20 

Marquette, thirteen " _.. 31.02 

Sault Ste. Marie, thirty -three years... 30.28 

The Ontonagon record is exceptionally low, and neglecting it as being due to 



100 Michigan and its Eesources. 

local or other causes, the average of the remaining three yearly means 32.84 inches. 
This record cannot be considered as giving a fair average for the whole upper pen- 
insula, for two reasons. First, the records were all taken at the lake shore where 
the average precipitation is probably less than that of the interior. Second, the 
measurement of the snowfall, which in these latitudes form so large a portion of 
the total precipitation for the year, is difficult to determine accurately. It has not 
been possible in the limited time allowed for this report, to investigate the rain- 
fall down to the present time. The average for the district herein covered is prob- 
ably about 32 inches, and this fall will be used in the calculation of the flow of 
the streams. In the report upon the water powers of the United States, prepared 
for the tenth census, the average rainfall taken for the district is 35 inches. It will 
be seen from the columns headed "ratios, with the mean for three months," that 
the precipitation is fairly uniform, ranging form .70 in the spring and winter to 1.4 
in the autumn. This, however, is deceptive since the snow collects upon the ground 
in the winter months, only a small percentage reaching the streams at that time. 
During the thaws of the spring months this snow rapidly melts, producing freshets. 
The flow fluctuates considerably as an actual fact on this account, and there are 
usually two periods of very low water, one in summer and the other in winter. 
These conditions of small drainage areas, of small annual rainfalls, and of large 
fluctuations in the flow are therefore very unfavorable to the occurrence of first 
class water powers. The total fall, however, is as a rule considerable, the average 
height of the high land which divides the drainage into Lake Superior and from 
that into Lake Michigan being about 1,500 feet above the sea. The level of 
Lake Superior is 600 feet above the sea, and therefore the main streams have 
a total fall of about 900 feet in short distances. This fall does not take place 
uniformly as a rule, but occurs either in the form of rapids or natural waterfalls, 
where the streams cross the trap or granite ranges. The character of the surface 
varies in the different parts of the peninsula. The average condition will give 
probably a flow in the streams, equivalent to sixty per cent of the rainfall upon 
the respective watersheds. The available flow for the entire year is estimated to 
be twenty per cent of the mean annual rainfall. Regarding the more important 
streams a few figures, which however are only approximate, are given. 

THE MENOMINEE RIVER IN MICHIGAN. 

(Extracts from the " Report upon Water Powers " of the 10th United States Census.) 

Dimensions of the Drainage Basin. — The drainage basin of 4,113 square miles 
is very irregular in outline. Narrow at the mouth, it widens out to an average 
of about 40 miles across, and sends an arm away north, so that the extreme 
sources are within ten miles of the waters of Lake Superior in Huron bay. Thus 
it nearly extends clear across^ the center of the upper peninsula of Michigan. 
At the nominal head of the river it already has a drainage area of 1,769 square 
miles, for the Bois Brule and the Michigamme are each large streams. Further 
down it receives the Pine and Pike rivers from Wisconsin, and the Sturgeon 
and Little Cedar from Michigan, besides numerous smaller streams. No gaugings 
have been made of the river, but the calculations of the water powers have 
been based upon a low water flow of 0.34 cubic feet per second per square mile 



Water Power of the Upper Peninsula. 101 

of watershed, which is equivalent to 17.8 per cent of the total volume of 
precipitation, which is here taken as 35 inches. 

In high water the power of the river is immensely increased. The river is 
not especially uniform in its flow, although running in a timbered country, but 
it cannot be considered an unsteady stream, its character being medium in this 
respect. The superintendent of the paper mill at the mouth said that after a 
heavy rain the river would rise to a maximum in about four days, stay at 
that stage about four days and then fall to about the usual level in about four 
days more. 

Fall of the River. — The extreme sources on the west are within two miles 
of- the Lac Vieux desert, the source of the Wisconsin, which is 951 feet above 
Lake Michigan, and on the north they are at least 990 feet above Lake Mich- 
igan, as Lake Michigamme is 952 feet above the level of Lake Superior. Thus 
the river may be considered to fall about 975 feet from its source to its mouth, 
in a distance by water of about 160 miles. This descent is scattered in local 
concentrations all along its course, and rapids characterize the river from the 
source to the mouth. The elevation of the river at the railroad crossing, three 
miles above the mouth of Pine river, is given by the Chicago and Northwestern 
railroad as 475 feet above Lake Michigan, and at Sturgeon river at the crossing, 
two and one-half miles above the mouth, 253 feet above the lake. 

From this data the fall between the railroad crossing and the mouth of the 
Sturgeon is approximately 225 feet, an average of V2.% feet per mile. In this 
distance occur the Big and Little Quinnesec falls. In the 72 miles from the 
mouth of the Sturgeon river to the lake, the Menominee falls about 250 feet, 
an average of three and one-half feet per mile. The fall in these stretches is 
not uniform, but occurs irregularly, as rapids or waterfalls, forming numerous, 
cheap and good water powers. Sixteen principal rapids and falls are enumerated 
in the census report, the natural falls ranging from 12 to 60 feet. Among this 
number are two which are classed under " large undeveloped water powers of 
the United States." They are known as the Big and Little Quinnesec falls. 
Since the publication of the census report, the Big Quinnesec falls has been 
utilized by the Chapin & Ludington Iron Mining Company of the Menominee 
Range. A large plant of air compressors, operated by turbins, is located at the 
falls, and the compressed air is conducted through a large pipe to the mines 
three miles away, where it is made to operate surface and underground machinery. 

Main tributaries of the Menominee in Michigan: Michigamme river, seventy- 
two miles, drains 756 square miles; Sturgeon river, five miles, drains 409 square 
miles. 

MICHIGAMME RIVER. 

This is the largest tributary of the Menominee. Its drainage basin reaches 
nearly across the upper peninsula, the extreme sources being within ten miles 
of the waters of Lake Superior, in Huron bay. The head of the river, however, 
is considered to be Lake Michigamme. which is the largest lake of the Menominee 

Note.— This information regarding the tribntaries of the Menominee river in Michigan is taken from 
the census report already referred to, except that twenty per cent instead of seventeen and eight- 
tenths is taken as giving the proportion of the total annu^ rainfall probably available throaghoat 
the year. 



1C2 



Michigan and its Eesoukces. 



basin. The length of the river to the extreme source is seventy-two miles (map 
measurements), to Lake Michigamme fifty-one miles. The ordinary low stage 
power at the mouth, under ten feet head, is estimated as four hundred and six 
theoretical horse power, and the average width at the mouth is two hundred 
and fifty feet, and at the head eighty feet. Lake Michigamme is nine hundred 
and eighty feet above Lake Michigan. There are several prominent falls and 
rapids on the river, and all the falls are over rock ledges with rocky banks. 
About one thousand three hundred feet from the mouth is a perdendicular fall 
of thirty feet, with steep, rocky banks. Pour miles from the mouth is another 
vertical fall of six feet. Fifteen miles from the mouth and three miles below 
the mouth of Deer river is a vertical fall of ten feet over a rocky ledge. Six miles 
above Fence river is Long Corry rapids, one and three-quarters miles long with 
about forty feet fall. Next there is a fall and a rapid three miles below Republic 
mine, three-quarters of a mile long, with about a fifteen feet fall. Lake Michi- 
gamme is eight miles above this place. 

STUKGEON RIVER. 

The basin of this river is in Michigan and its length (map measurements) to the 
extreme source is fifty miles. The area drained is four hundred and nine square 
miles and the power under ten feet head at an ordinary low stage of the water is 
two hundred and nineteen theoretic horse power. The average width at the mouth 
is one hundred feet. The general course is south southwest, nearly at right angles 
to the general slope of the country, and hence the fall of the river is very slight. 
Ten miles above the mouth is a descent of sixteen feet in three pitches. 

There are a number of other streams of about the same importance as possi- 
ble sources of water power, as the tributaries of the Menominee river. These 
are tabulated as follows: 



Name. 



Manietiqae river 

Ontonagon river 

Eecanaba river.. 

Sturgeon river 

Paint river (not before mentioned) 
Ford river (not before mentioned). 



Drainage, 
square miles. 


Theoretical 

horse power 

under 10 feet 

fall. 


1,460 


785 


1,344 


722 


971 


522 


763 


410 


570 


306 


480 


258 



It is impossible to give definite detailed information regarding these rivers. 
There are, however, undoubtedly many small water powers on these and other 
still smaller streams that have not been mentioned, which can be cheaply utilized. 
The rivers fall irregularly, forming rapids in some places and abrupt falls at 
others. This is shown by the government plats, and also by reports that have 
been received concerning these rivers. The fall of the streams through all parts 
of the upper peninsula, with the exception of those occurring on the narrow 



Watek Power of the Upper Peninsula. 103 

stretch neai* Sault Ste. Marie, is of a character that permits of a cheap utiliza- 
tion of the power. The factor wanting generally is not head, but quantity. The 
difficulty of the lack of volume is enhanced by the irregularity of the flow, 
caused by the snows of winter melting rapidly during a short period of time 
in the spring. On the other hand the localities are often very favorable for 
the construction of cheap dams, which can be made to impound the water and 
so regulate the flow. In conclusion we may say with certainty that there exists 
on the streams directly mentioned, and on numbers of others that have not 
been named, numerous small water powers furnishing from 50 to 200 horse 
power throughout the year, that could be cheaply utilized. A considerable num- 
ber are already used, but the meager and inaccurate returns received do not 
warrant an attempt at tabulating them. 



THE SOO WATER POWER. 



BY C. H. CHAPMAN. 



The great water power at Sault Ste. Marie is at the falls of the St. Mary's river. 
This river is the only known outlet for the greatest of all bodies of fresh water; 
and the assertion that this is the greatest and best water power in the world is 
occasionally contradicted by those who are unfamiliar with the requirements for 
good power. With consumers the greatest objection to water powers are the fluct- 
uations in the head or power producing quantity. On smaller streams the 
spring freshets and summer droughts are serious obstacles to steady and even 
power, such as ip required by nearly all manufactories; and steam, though much 
more expensive, is frequently adopted where water power would be utilized under 
more favorable conditions. The water power at Sault Ste. Marie has for its direct 
source of supply Lake Superior, with its thirty-two thousand square miles of solid 
water. The average variation of the depth of water in this great lake is one foot 
in a year. The low water season occurring in spring at the time and immediately 
following the freshets. From low water mark in April the lake gradually rises until 
about September when the highest point is reached, a difference of but twelve 
inches. There are some slight variations from this rule, but it is the average. 

During the summer of 1890, a syndicate was organized in London, England, com- 
posed of English and Scotch capitalists, for the purpose of developing this great 
power to its fullest capacity. Colonel W. Hope, of the corps of civil engineers of 
the English army, visited Sault Ste. Marie in the interests of the syndicate. He 
remained several months and completed a minute survey of the falls. His charts 
show the depth variation and velocity of the water at every point, and when he 
finished, his report to the syndicate was to the effect that this was the greatest and 
most practicable water power on earth. John Best, of Edinburgh, Scotland, one of 
the largest and best known contractors in Great Britain accompanied Colonel Hope 
to Sault Ste. Marie, and made a careful examination of the entire locality. A few 
months since, Mr. Best was visited at his Edinburgh home by ex-general superin- 
tendent Watson, of the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway, and stated to' 
that gentleman that the water power at the Sault was the grandest he had ever 



o 
o 

n 

> 

> 



70 
m 
> 

H 
O 




The Soo Water Power. 105 

seen, and the purchase and development would have been made by his syndicate, 
had it not been for the failure of the Barings of London. 

One of the features of Colonel Hope's plan of development was to place a dam 
across the river at the head of the falls to raise the water in Lake Superior and 
hold complete control over the head and prevent the slightest variation in its flow, 
thus the steadiest known power would have been equaled, if not excelled. This 
plan was approved and pronounced practicable by the United States corps of 
engineers. In considering great water powers one's first thought is of Niagara 
as the greatest, but there the most puzzling problem with the engineers is, how 
to overcome and utilize the fall. It is too great and no practical machinery will 
stand the continuous strain of more than twenty-five foot of a head. The head at 
the Soo is about twenty feet and the supply is one never failing for twenty- 
four hours a day and three hundred and sixty-five days in a year. There is now 
completed here a development of ten thousand theoretical horse power. This was 
made quite easily and at comparatively small cost by building a wing dam in 
the rapids. The average power at Minneapolis, from the falls of St. Anthony, 
is five thousand theoretical horse power, while at the Soo twice the amount is 
already developed and ten times more is awaiting development. 

14 



10^ 



LUMBER INTERESTS. 



Although agriculture is the chief producing interest of this State, and engages 
the attention of the largest share of its people, fertile farms and prolific orchards 
have not alone contributed to its prosperity. Noted for its wheat, its wool and its 
fruit, it is also the first of the United States in its production of lumber, salt, 
charcoal pig iron and copper, and in the extent of its fresh-water fisheries. Cer- 
tainly first in the value, and probably first in the amount, of its yield of iron ore, 
and among the most advanced in its general manufacturing and commercial devel- 
opment. While a few states excel it in the volume of their crops, and some in the 
aggregate of their industrial statistics, none can equal it in the magnitude and 
diversity of its resources, taken together. Its forests, mines, mills and factories, 
while offering employment to all grades of labor, from the unskilled worker with 
the pick and shovel to the most expert mechanic, also create a large and con- 
stant local demand for the farm products of the State, and thus doubly promote 
the general progress. The full extent of the invitation Michigan thus proffers to 
the laborer and the artisan in search of work and to the farmer of small means 
who desires to purchase new lands, and to secure a home market for his sur- 
plus produce, can be best made plain by brief accounts of the history and con- 
dition of its leading industries. 

Before the ax of the lumberman commenced its work on the forests of Michi- 
gan, the northern part of its lower peninsula surpassed any known region of the 
same area in the richness of its stock of timber. Interspersed with the best 
varieties of pine were extensive growths of oak, maple, beech, ash, walnut, cherry, 
whitewood, hickory and elm, while the less valuable cedar, hemlock, basswood and 
tamarack grew, in some sections, in equal abundance. In the upper peninsula and 
northern part of the lower peninsula pine existed also in large quantities, and broad 
tracts of hard wood invited the erection of furnaces for the manufacture of the 
best grades of charcoal iron. Magnificent forests of hard timber covered the 
greater part of the southern counties, now so rich in agricultural wealth. A more 
comprehensive account of the timber resources of the State is printed on sue- 



Lumber Interests. 107 



ceeding pages, from the pen of Prof. W. J. Beal, the accomplished botanist of 
the Agricultural College. 

Much of the timber product of the State has been of an exceedingly superior 
quality. Its cork pine ranks among the best of the soft woods, and commands 
the highest market price. Its common grades of white and Norway pine are of 
standard value, while its harder woods are in demand in the ship-yards, factories 
and cabinet shops of this and the European continent. 

THE CHIEF MANUFACTURING INTEREST OF THE STATE. 

For many years lumbering has been the chief manufacturing interest of Michi- 
gan, and no American state equaled it in the extent and value of its lumber 
product. The State has never collected and compiled the annual statistics of this 
industry, and the most trustworthy sources of information upon the subject are 
the elaborate publications of journalists connected with papers representing that 
interest, or issued at the centers of the manufacture. Even these are deficient in 
statistics covering the trade in spars, staves, heading, and long timber, and the 
thousands of cords of fuel chopped and sold annually have gone unrecorded, as 
also have the heavy shipments of railroad ties, cedar telegraph poles, piles, pav- 
ing blocks, spool stock, and hardwoods for the furniture maker. 

GROWTH AND MAGNITUDE OF THE LUMBER BUSINESS. 

The history of this great industry covers a period of only about thirty years. In 
1854 the Hon. Wm. L. Webber, of East Saginaw, made the first estimate of the 
extent of the operations of Michigan lumbermen whose activity was then chiefly 
confined to the valley of the Saginaw river. He reported the existence of sixty- 
one mills, many of them using water power, and placed their entire annual product 
a,t but 108,000,000 feet. Eighteen years later, in 1872, it was estimated that the 
lumber product of Michigan for twelve months included 2,560,000 feet of oak 
timber, 12,700,000 staves, 300,000,000 lath, 400,000,000 shingles, and 2,500,000,000 
feet of sawed pine. The number of saw mills in the State at that time was about 
fifteen hundred, employing more that twenty thousand persons, and representing 
$25,000,000 of capital. There were also two hundred shingle mills and eighty stave 
and hoop factories, with an annual product of $4,000,000 in value. The lumber 
trade suffered materially during the following years of commercial depression, but 
in 1879 the total amount sawed in this State reached 3,100,000,000 feet, and Gov. 
Jerome in his inaugural message estimated the value of the entire timber product 
of that year at §60,000,000. The product of 1881 is estimated by the lumber journals 
to have been: 



108 



Michigan and its Kesoueces. 



Lumber product for 1881. 



Location. 



Upper Peninsula _ 

The Saginaw Valley... .-1 — 

The Lake Huron Shore - 

The Lake Michigan Shore: 

Manistee 

Ludington 

White Lake... 

Muskegon 

Grand Haven and Spring Lake 

Miscellaneous 

Interior Mills: 

Chicago & West Michigan R. R. 

Grand Rapids & Indiana B. R 

Detroit Lansing, and Northern R. R 

Michigan Central R. R.— Mackinac and Bay City Divisions 

Flint & Pere Marquette R. R 

Miscellaneous 

Total 



No. Feet. 



450,000,000 
,011,000,000 
320,000,000 

225,000,000 
120,000,000 
120,000,000 
632,500,000 
191,000,000 
75,000.000 

65,000,00a 
196,000,000 
84,000.000 
85,000,000 
145,000,000 
200,000,000 



3,919,500,000 



This large total is that of sawed pine lumber alone and is exclusive of shingles, 
lath, staves and long timber, whose product possesses an annual value of many 
millions. An ingenious calculation shows that the work of the Michigan mills 
during that year in sawed lumber would load a train of cars 2,470 miles in length, 
each car carrying 10,000 feet and occupying thirty-three feet of track, and would 
build a city of handsome frame houses capable of furnishing comfortable homes 
for more than a million of people. The aggregate value of the forest products of 
this State already marketed is in excess of §1,000,000,000. These totals far outstripped 
those of any other timber producing state, or of any country of like area. 

The production of lumber increased until about 1883, when it seemed to receive 
a check. Many small timber claims were worked up and mills were idle. It 
was then claimed by some that the great lumber producing State was weaken- 
ing. The output was visibly decreased, but that the pine timber was exhausted 
was by no means true. In 1892 the lumber production was, lumber 3,794,256,754 
and shingles 2,140,800,000, and the price much better. This included hardwood 
lumber, of which there is an im.mense amount in the State. A large proportion 
of the lumber produced in Michigan is being manufactured within the State 
and the manufactured articles shipped instead of raw lumber. 



THE GREAT CENTERS OF MANUFACTURE. 

The distribution of the lumber manufacture of Michigan is determined by its 
rivers and railroads. Below the valleys of the Saginaw and the Grand, little 
else than a mere local trade now exists. The Saginaw receives the waters of 
the Tittabawassee, the Cass, the Flint, the Shiawassee, the Bad, the Pine, the 
Chippewa, the Tobacco, and their numerous tributaries, draining a vast and mag- 
nificently timbered region. At its mouth is the thriving city of Bay City; six- 
teen miles above, at the head of steam navigation, is Saginaw. At these cities 
and in the flourishing villages between them are collected the finest lumber 
manufacturing establishments in the world, whose total yearly product surpasses 
that of any other single district. The river which brings the logs to their booms 
also bears large vessels to their docks, and they have under absolute control all 



Lumber Interests. 109 



the advantages of cheap water transportation. The Saginaw valley is also con- 
nected by several first-class lines with the railway system of the continent, and 
with this multiplied outlet commands access to all the markets of the world. 

The Lake Huron shore, including Saginaw bay, counts its saw mills by the 
hundred. The Au Sable and Thunder bay are important logging rivers of that 
part of the State, and lumbering is also extensively carried on along the Rifle, 
the Aux Gres, the Cheboygan, the Black, and many smaller streams. Alpena, 
Tawas City, East Tawas, Cheboygan, Oscoda, Au Sable, Harrisville and Black 
River are important manufacturing or shipping points. 

The chief lumbering rivers emptying into Lake Michigan are the Muskegon, 
the Manistee, the White and the Pere Marquette. Many millions of feet are also 
•cut annually along the banks of the two Sables, the Aux Bees Scies, the Pent- 
water, and other lesser streams. The Muskegon, after draining a broad valley 
extending far into the interior, expands into a handsome lake close upon the 
shore of Lake Michigan. No natural provision could be more favorable for the 
handling of logs and the shipment of the sawed product, and the city of Mus- 
kegon, located upon the south shore of the lake, has the distinction of having 
annually cut more lumber than any other single city in the world. Manistee 
possesses a similar eminence in the manufacture of shingles. Montague, White- 
hall, Pentwater, Ludington, Frankfort, Elk Rapids and Traverse City also con- 
tribute to swell the total of the forest products of the Lake Michigan shore. 

There are many inland towns, situated upon railway lines, which are important 
centers of this industry. 

Lumbering is yet in its infancy in the upper peninsula, but the value of the 
sawed and square timber product of that region in 1881 must be estimated at 
over S4,000,000. Saw mills are scattered along the shores and the railways of 
Menominee, Delta, Mackinac. Marquette, Schoolcraft, Baraga, Houghton and Ontona- 
gon counties, but the chief centers of lumber production in that section of the 
State are Menominee, Escanaba, Manistique, St. Ignace, Ford River and Munising. 

Menominee is claimed to be the greatest lumber producing city in the State 
at this time. 



HARDWOODS IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN. 



BY J. G. EAMSDELL, TRAVERSE CITY. 



That portion of the lower peninsula of Michigan lying north and west of th& 
Manistee river, and embracing the counties of Benzie, Leelanau, Grand Traverse,^ 
Antrim, Charlevoix and Emmet, the west half of Kalkaska, and the north halves 
of Manistee, Wexford and Missaukee, was originally covered with a dense forest 
growth of valuable timber. Along the river valleys and around the smaller inland 
lakes, pine, hemlock and cedar were the prevailing timbers. On the high table 
and rolling lands, around the borders of the larger inland lakes, and along the 
shore of the great lake and bays, the forest was composed of deciduous timber, 
interspersed with hemlock, maple and elm being the predominating varieties. 
About one-tenth of the whole area above described was occupied by pine or cedar, 
covered with water or was waste land. Of the pine about one-half has been cut; 
most of the cedar is still standing. The other nine-tenths were heavily timbered 
with hardwoods of uncommon height and size, of thrifty growth and excellent 
quality. This hardwood area is mostly owned by actual settlers; a large quantity, 
however, is still held by the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad and the Michigan 
Agricultural College. 

About one-eighth of the hardwood lands have been cleared for agricultural pur- 
poses, leaving seven-eights of the natural forest still standing. As this hardwood 
land is all excellent farming land, in estimating the amount of timber available 
for manufacturing purposes, one-fourth of the hardwood area must be deducted for 
farm reserves. The whole number of acres in the territory under consideration is 
about 3,000,000; deducting one-tenth for pine, cedar, water and waste leaves 2,700,- 
OOO acres as the amount of hardwood land. Estimating one-eighth of this as 
already cleared for agriculture, leaves as the amount of uncut hardwood land 2,362,- 
500 acres, and deducting from this one-fourth of the whole hardwood area leaves 
2,025,000 acres of uncut hardwood available for commercial purposes. 

From evidence before me, recently taken in a chancery cause, where the ques- 
tion of the amount per acre of merchantable deciduous saw timber on a certain 
half section of land in Benzie county became an important factor, I find that the 
testimony of timber experts placed the estimate at 8,000 feet of merchantable lum- 



Hardwoods in Northebn Michigan. Ill 

ber per acre from the deciduous timber, 6,000 feet of which was surface clear; and 
it also showed that the half section in question was a fair average of the hard- 
wood lands in this region. This estimate would make the amount of deciduous 
merchantable saw timber 1,620,000,000 feet. Nine-tenths of this is maple and elm, 
and the rest is beech, basswood, birch, ash and red oak in the order named. The 
foregoing estimate I consider too high; I would place the total at about 1,500,000,- 
000 feet of deciduous timber available for lumber. 

I have consulted experts in the cordwood business, and they estimate the 
amount of timber available for charcoal wood, remaining after the saw timber is 
taken out, from twenty-five to thirty-five cords per acre. Taking the mean of 
thirty cords would give 60,750,000 cords that might be utilized for that purpose; 
enough to manufacture 25,000,000 tons of charcoal pig iron, or enough to furnish 
fifty charcoal furnaces of an average annual capacity of 20,000 tons for twenty- 
five years. 

In making" these estimates no account is made of hemlock, which is interspersed 
among all classes of timber and is valuable for both tan bark and lumber. The 
quantity is large, and for the whole region might be safely placed at one-tenth 
as much as the hardwood. 

Of the territory embraced in the foregoing estimates, about twenty-two town- 
ships are directly tributary to the head of Grand Traverse bay as its natural 
outlet, the artificial outlet over the four railroads centering at Traverse City 
greatly enlarging the advantages of manufacturing at that place. There are but 
two charcoal furnaces in the whole region and consequently a large portion of 
the charcoal timber left after the removal of the saw timber goes to waste. The 
vast amount of this timber is to be had for the cost of cutting and transporta- 
tion, the short and cheap water freight from the ore docks of Escanaba and St. 
Ignace, and the abundance of lime for fiux cropping out in ledges on Grand 
Traverse bay should at once attract the charcoal iron manufacturers of the 
United States to this region, as combining advantages for this industry unequaled 
elsewhere, and suggesting an economy of production that would defy all compe- 
tition in the production of charcoal iron. 

The Onondaga salt formation underlies this whole territory at a depth of from 
1,200 to 1,800 feet below the level of Lake Michigan. This formation has a 
stratum of pure rock salt from thirty to three hundred feet in thickness. The 
late Prof. Alexander Winchell, state geologist for Michigan, in his report of this 
region estimated the depth of boring to reach the salt rock 'at the head of Grand 
Traverse bay at about 1,200 feet. 

No attempt has been made to test the accuracy of Prof. Winchell's survey at 
this place. The business men of Traverse City and vicinity have become impressed 
with the great advantages which the production of salt would be to the hardwood 
manufacturing interest and incidentally to all other business, and are taking steps 
to test the geological prediction referred to. Undoubtedly within the next six 
months the matter will be definitely determined by the sinking of a well. Should 
the salt rock be reached by such boring, the advantages of Traverse City and 
vicinity for working up the vast quantity of hardwood in the northwest portion 
of the lower peninsula of Michigan from stump to finish will be unequaled. For 
those who desire to enter into any branch of the hardwood industry, the forests 



112 Michigan and its Resources. 

of northwestern Michigan afford the most abundant supply of excellent timber of 
any portion of the United States. Its railroad facilities and numerous lake ports 
give superior advantages in the matter of freight. The numerous well tilled 
farms scattered through the region afford an abundance of cheap and excellent 
provisions for the household, and the free school system gives the best educa- 
tional advantages to working men's children. Capacious and well furnished school 
houses are found in every neighborhood. The leading denominations have erected 
churches in all the villages, and many out among the farmers where villages are 
distant, and keep their pupils well supplied with an able and earnest ministry. In 
this country the new and old are most fortunately blended; the new in the advant- 
age of cheap raw material, and the old in all the advantages of modern 
improvements. 



THE BROAD-LEAVED TREES OF MICHIGAN. 



BY W. J. BEAL, AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, MICH. 



"Hardwood" is a very indefinite and unsatisfactory term popularly employed, 
not only to designate the timber of oaks, sugar maple, beech, the hickories, etc., 
which is truly hard, but that of basswood, whitewood, butternut and cottonwood, 
which is truly soft. The term at the head of this article is easily understood 
by everyone and has the advantage, at least so far as Michigan is concerned, 
of being strictly accurate without exception. 

The term "hardwood" implies another term, "softwood," which is not uncom- 
monly employed to designate the timber of white pine, Norway pine, cedar, spruce, 
balsam, etc. These are all evergreen, with narrow leaves, but the timber of 
Norway pine is nearly on the dividing line between hardwood . and softwood, and 
is certainly harder than that of basswood and cottonwood, which is usually 
included in the hardwoods. Tamarack, or larch, is not an evergreen, but is 
nearly related in a scientific way to the pines, cedars and spruces. Instead of 
the term " softwood " it would be preferable to use the term 

CONE-BEARING OR PIN-LEAYED TREES. 

Our trees belonging to this list are white pine, Norway pine, jack pine, hem- 
lock, black spruce, white spruce, balsam fir, white (yellow) cedar, red cedar and 
tamarack. 

Timber is relatively hard or soft nearly in proportion to its specific gravity 
when dry. From the forest report of the tenth census I give the specific grav- 
ity of the woods of some well-known trees. The heavier the wood the more 
valuable it is for fuel, the heating capacity when burned corresponding very 
closely to the weight: 

15 



114 



Michigan and its Resoueces. 



Chestnut oak .8605 

Shagbark hickory .8372 

Ironwood „ .8284 

White oak .7470 

Swamp white oak .745.3 

Rock elm .7263 

Sugar maple .6912 

Beech .6883 

White ash .6543 

Red oak .6540 

American elm .6506 

Tamarack .62.36 

Red maple .6178 

Black walnut .6115 

White (yellow) cedar .3164 



Canoe birch .5955' 

Black cherry .5822 

Sycamore .5678 

Silver maple .5269 

Norway pine .4854 

Jack pine .4761 

Basswood .4525 

Chestnut .4504 

Black willow .4456' 

Hemlock .4239 

Tulip tree (white wood) .4230 

Butternut .4086 

Cottonwood .3889 

White pine .3854 



The wood of the same species, or closely allied species, is harder in proportion as 
it grows in a dry climate. For example, the wood of white ash grown in dry por- 
tions of Texas is twenty per cent heavier than that grown in damper climates, like 
that of Michigan, while the wood of black walnut is thirty-three per cent heavier. 

Michigan once contained, by estimate, 150.000,000,000 feet of pine, board measure. 
It is safe to say seven-eighths of this has been cut, or in some way destroyed. Since 
the petted " rabbit " has escaped it may now be a satisfaction to quote the opinion of 
Hon. Perry Hannah, that the State would have been better off had she never pos- 
sessed a foot of pine, but had possessed only hardwoods instead. The reasons 
for this statement are as follows: Pine often grows on poor land, the dead leaves 
and brush and tops of trees encourage fires which devastate large areas, spreading 
to living trees and often beyond, destroying fences, dwellings and crops. The stumps 
are durable, and troublesome to cultivate among or expensive to remove. Desola- 
tion too often follows the track of the man who secures and cuts pine or other 
evergreen trees; but where hardwood is cut cultivated fields soon appear. Broad 
leaved trees are much less liable to suffer from fire, or lead to the spread of fires; 
they more frequently grow on good soil, and the stumps in a not remote period 
decay and disappear, leaving good farms to recruit and sustain the country. 

For nearly all purposes the timber of some one or more of our numerous broad 
leaved trees is just as good as that of pine and even better. Timber of white and 
Norway pine is very pretty and suitable for many purposes, but with it we cannot 
acceptably fill so great a variety of places, especially in unpainted surfaces, or 
where strength or durability is required, as can be filled by timber of our broad 
leaved trees. The wood of many of the latter trees is most admirable for veneers, 
or for cutting in special ways to show the grain to the best advantage. The rea- 
sons why the broad leaved trees have not been removed as fast as the pine are 
these: The timber is harder and heavier, not so easily worked and more costly to 
transport. These slight barriers may have been an advantage to delay the rapid 
slaughter of this timber, which will take the place of pine when gone. 

The main bulk of marketable timber of the cone-bearing trees consists of white 
pine, Norway pine, white (yellow) cedar, hemlock, with a little black spruce, white 



The Broad-leaved Trees of Michigan. 115 

spruce and balsam fir; while the species of our broad leaved trees which furnish 
timber in the market are ten to twelve times as great. 

The sugar maple is perhaps the most generally distributed and the most abun- 
dant of the native trees of our State, while beech is very widely distributed,, 
red oak probably next. The white oak is abundant, well known and valuable, but 
disappears to the north as we enter the pine. 

If we follow in nearly a direct line from the lower point of Lake Huron across 
the State to the mouth of the Kalamazoo river, in latitude a little north of 43 
degrees, we will find at the south, three tiers of counties producing scarcely any 
other species of trees than those with broad leaves; while at the north, extend- 
ing into the upper peninsula, are mixed tracts of both classes of trees as above 
defined. In this northern region may yet be found many cone-bearing trees of 
white and Norway pine, jack pine, hemlock, white (yellow) cedar, tamarack, black 
spruce, white spruce and balsam fir, while intermingled with them or in separate 
lots, are broad- leaved trees as follows: Sugar maple (including bird's eye), white 
oak, beech, American elm, (including gray), basswood, rock elm, red oak, black 
oak, swamp white oak (usually classed with white oak), black ash, yellow birch, 
red maple (one of the soft maples), silver maple (another soft maple), hackberry, 
butternut, bitternut, canoe birch, black birch, aspen, balm of gilead, black ckerry, 
white ash, hickory, ironwood, burr-oak and scarlet oak. 

In the region including the southern three tiers of counties spoken of, the 
number of species of broad-leaved trees is much increased, though in many 
counties this is all needed to supply the wants of the people living in the 
vicinity. In this southern region may be found white oak, swamp white oak^ 
red oak, burr-oak, chestnut oak, black oak, beech, sugar maple, black maple, red 
maple, silver maple, basswood, black ash, white ash, red ash, blue ash, sycamore, 
American elm, rock elm, red elm, hackberry, mulberry, tulip tree, black cherry, 
Kentucky coffee tree, honey locust, downy thorn, dogwood, pepperidge, sassafras,, 
black walnut, butternut, shagbark hickory, western shellbark hickory, small 
fruited hickory, mockernut, pignut, bitternut, black birch, black willow, aspen, 
large toothed aspen, cottonwood, downy poplar, balsam poplar, red cedar, black 
spruce, tamarack, and rarely a few trees of white pine, hemlock and jack pine. 
In all, native to the State, there about seventy kinds of trees. 

Michigan has for a long time taken first rank among the northern central 
states for the value of her lumber product, and it is evident from the foregoing 
statements she must long hold a prominent place. But with the increased popu- 
lation of the State and surrounding states, greater inroads must be made on 
our forests. With improved modes of cutting and transporting this timber, it 
must go more rapidly than did the pine. As it takes a long time to grow a crop 
of timber, it stands us in hand to husband our present supply, using it all ta 
best advantage, taking some pains to save unmolested in suitable places the 
groves of young trees already coming on to supply the demands of the future. 

Hewing farms out of the forest, here and there, let in the winds and other- 
wise disturbed the natural condition of things. One of the consequences most 
apparant was the decay of trees at the top; slowly at first, but more and more 
apparent as more trees in the neighborhood were hewn down. There is no hope 
of reviving such trees; they must be cut, the sooner the better, and some 
returns obtained for the timber. In many cases when the primeval forest i& 



116 Michigan and its Kesources. 

left in isolated blocks, trees are turned up by the roots; various kinds of insects 
attack the decaying trees, and the work of destruction goes on rapidly. Not so 
with the second growth, which adapts itself to the changed conditions of sur- 
roundings. Our native forests are to be considered as exhaustible. 

It is not pleasant to consider that the end is rapidly approaching, unless we 
begin to give more attention to the study of the subject and see to it that 
some of the youngest and smallest trees are spared for another crop. In most 
cases, very likely, those who cut the first crop will leave the recuperation to 
other hands. The history of other countries has repeatedly shown that " no 
system of agriculture can be long successful and profitable which ignores the 
necessity of renewing and cultivating trees;" and, we might add, that fails to 
give attention to the needs of the trees which remain. 



THE SALT PRODUCT. 



The manufacture- of salt was inaugurated in Michigan in Saginaw in 1860. It 
required a large expenditure in money and much experience before the indus- 
try had passed the experimental stage and reached substantial footing as a 
foremost industry. -Between 1860 and 1866 not less than $200,000 were invested in 
the great salt scheme on the Saginaw, and men were bankrupted. It is safe to 
say that prior to 1870 not a dollar was made in manufacturing salt in Michigan 
because of the inexperience of the men engaged in the work, and because of the 
greed to get all the salt there was in the brine. The brine as it comes from the 
earth on the Saginaw contains iron, which made the salt rusty; bromide of sodium 
that made it bitter, and gypsum that made it cake, and all of which made it prac- 
tically useless except as a fertilizer. The wiser men saw that it was a losing game 
unless they could get rid of these impurities and compel all manufacturers to do 
so. In 1869 a law was enacted by the legislature making it compulsory that all 
salt manufactured in the State should be inspected. To secure this enactment 
the saltmakers imposed upon themselves a special tax to cover the expenses of the 
office. That worked well and the quality of Michigan salt rapidly rose. But there 
were obstacles in the way of putting it on the market. In 1876 an association was 
formed, including all the prominent manufacturers, whereby all were bound to 
observe certain rules and regulations that were thought to be conducive to the 
success of Michigan salt. The association handled all the salt produced by its 
members, and thus secured viniform prices. 

Salt works in the Saginaw valley are operated in connection with steam saw 
mills, and the refuse from the manufacture of lumber and shingles is used for fuel 
in evaporating the salt brine. By this method the production of salt is the most 
economical in the United States. 

The following table prepared by William A. Raborg gives the amount produced 
in the various states and territories in 1890. 

The production of salt in the United States during the years 1889 and 1890 vas 
as follows: In 1889, 8,005,565 barrels, valued at $4,195,412, and in 1890, 8,776,991 
barrels, valued at $4,752,286. The amount and value of the salt produced in the 
various states and territories in the latter year, 1890, is given in the following table: 



118 



Michigan and its Kesoueces. 



Quantity and value of salt produced in the United States during the year 1890. 



States and territories. 


Production, 
Barrels. 


Value. 


Michigan ... 


3,837,632 
2,582,036 
231,303 
229,938 
273,553 
62,363 
427,500 
882,666 

300,000 


$2,302,579 


New York 


1,266,018 


Ohio 


136,617 


West Virginia 


134,688 


Locusiana ... .... 


132,000 


("alifornia.. 


57,085 


Utah 


126,100 


Kansas 


397,199 


Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other States 
and Territories, estimated.- 


200,000 






Total 


8,776,991 


$4,752,2b6 







With a production of 3,837,632 barrels of salt, valued at $2,302,579, Michigan 
headed the list of salt producing states and territories in 1890. In 1889 the pro- 
duction was 3,856,929 barrels, valued at $2,088,909. Since 1887 there has been a 
yearly decrease in the production, although the amount of salt made continued to 
represent over one-half the product of the United States. 

The average depths of the wells in the different counties were as follows: Mason, 
2,200 feet; Manistee, 2.000 feet; St. Clair, 1,700 feet; Huron, 1,200 feet; Midland, 1,200 
feet; Bay, Saginaw, and Iosco, 850 feet. 

During 1890 there were one hundred and twenty-two salt producing companies 
in the State, ninety-seven of which were in operation, having a capacity of production 
of 5,950,000 barrels. 



Product of Michigan salt in 1890, by districts. 



Counties. 


Fine. 


Bulk. 


Fine 
packers. 


Packers. 


Solar. 


Second 
quality. 


Total. 


Saginaw . 


Barrels. 
655,293 
581,072 
826,293 
333,871 
32,676 
155,7.54 
289.232 
46,812 


Barrels. 
305,127 
214,787 
84,527 
16,013 
22,968 
81,123 


Barrels. 

308 

462 

3,716 

2,270 

1^619' 


Barrels. 

1,659 

3,138 

12,691 


Barrels. 

18,896 


Barrels. 
25,571 
20,644 
79,298 
15,463 


Barrels. 
1,006,8.54 
8^0,103 


Bay.... 


Manistee 




1,006,525 
367,617 


Mason 




Huron 


37 

2,812 




55 6S1 


St. Clair 




703 


242,011 


Iosco . 




289,232 


Midland 


1,353 


55 






1,389 


49,609 










Total 


2,921,003 


725,898 


8,430 


20,337 


18,898 


143,068 


3,837,632 





The Salt Product. 



119 



In 1892 State Salt Inspector Michael Casey reported the following salt manu- 
facturers, with capacity of each by districts : 



District No. 1, Saginaw County. 



Total 
barrela. 

40,186 

25,712 

89,688 

17,769 

11,575 

26,198 

15,197 

14,216 

34,395 

34,966 

3,236 

53,183 

27,863 

36,754 

35,968 

1,568 

14,594 

42,241 

4,891 

Whitney & Batchelor 88,691 



A. T. BUee, U. M 

A. T. Bliss, L. M 

Bliss & Van Aoken. No. 2... 
Bliss & Van Auken, No. 1.. 

Brigge & Cooper.. 

Oreen, King & Co 

Gebhart & Bstabrook 

C. L. Grant & Co 

Nelson Holland 

Mitchell, McClnre & Co 

Melchers & Nerreter 

■C. Merrill & Co... 

W. B. Mershon & Co 

Rust Bros. & Co , 

Rast, Eaton & Co 

Sample & Camp 

€. M. Hill 

Saginaw Lnmber & Salt Co. 
W. F. Stevens. 



Total 
Darrels. 

Whittier Co. 6,192 

G. B. Wiggins 6,607 

A. W. Wright Lnmber Co 42,779 

Wylie Bros.... 13.432 

S. C. Stone 8,044 

Linton Co 18,725 

Merrill & Ring 2,108 

Tyler & Son ... 24,264 



E. O. & S. L. Eastman. 

D. Hardin & Co 

D. Hardin 

Brand & Hardin 

E. F. Gould. 

C. K. Eddy & Son 

E. R. Ayers & Co. 

Wall & Webber 

CambrHy & Co. 

Ed. Germain 

G. B. Wiggins, Stevens block. 
L. McLaughlin 



26,058 

3,470 

2,594 

11,671 

4,505 

27,287 

24,352 

24,169 

3,940 

15,320 

5,793 

2,410 



District No. 2, Bay County. 



842,235 



F. B. Bradley & Co. 

Butman & Rust 

Dolsen-Chapin Co. 



Total 
barrels. 

26,371 

5,749 

QW KOft 

Eddy, Avery & Eddy .".".".""111^].."' 5l!650 

Eddy Bros. & Co 40.206 

Folsom & Arnold 28,680 

E. Hall 32,512 

J. R. HaU 33,537 

Hargrave & Son 1,502 

Carpenter & Co 27,909 

Michigan Pipe Co 12,965 

Miller & Turner... 31,715 

McEwan Bros. & Co 45,822 



Total 
barrels. 

S. McLean & Co 49,425 

Pitts & Cranage 45,731 

Sage & Co.... 67,758 

W. B. Rouse... 32,350 

Kern Manufacturing Co 82,347 

Hine & Laderach 14,750 

N. B. Bradley & Son 2,287 

WUliam Peter 19,019 

C. C. Barker 7,851 

J. Boyce 22,083 

SmaUey & Woodworth 8,806 

T. H. McGraw & Co. 11,771 



691,334 



District No. 3, Huron County. 



iPort Hope Salt Co 

Cnrran, Flash & Conly . 



Total 

barrels - 

831 

828 



R. C. Ogilvie 

Huron Dairy Salt Co. 



District No. 4, St. Clair County. 



Total 

barrels. 

440 

29,065 



31,159 



Total 
barrels. 

St. Clair River Salt Co 1,183 

Thompson Bros 93,979 

Diamond Crystal Salt Co 18,466 



Total 
barrels. 

Vacuum Salt Co. 77,521 

Walton Salt Co : 75,272 

Marine City Stave Co 80,821 



District No. 5, Iosco County. 



347,242 



Total 
barrels. 

Temple Emery.. 41,549 

Iosco Brine Supply Co 14,442 

Winona Salt Co 15,605 



Gratwick, Smith & Fryer Lumber Co. 
Pack, Woods & Co 



District No. 6, Midland County. 



Total 

barrels. 

69,815 



230,897 



WUliam Patrick .„ 



Total 
barrels. 
21,573 



Midland Salt & Lnmber Co. 



Total 
barrels. 

11.807 

33,880 



120 



Michigan and its Resources. 



District No. 7, Manistee County. 



Total 
barrels. 

Canfield Salt & Lnmber Co 110.705 

Canfield Salt & Lumber Co., East Lake. ."ii.-lTS 

Canfield & Wheeler Co 71,690 

Michigan Trust Go .382,137 

State Lumber Co 186.941 



Total 
barrels. 

Louis Sands 124,282 

Stronach Lumber Co 108.936 

E. G. Filler & Son 100,.573 

C. Reits & Bro 13,100 

Eureka Lumber Co 141,196 



District No. 8, Muson County. 



Total 
barrels. 

Butters & Peter Salt Lnmber Co 68.931 

Thomas Percy.. ..- 181,819 



Pere Marquette Lumber Co. 



1,294,139 



Total 
barrels. 
90.918 



341,668 



Recapitulation. 



Total 
barrels. 

Saginaw District, No. 1 842,285 

Bay County District, No. 2 691,334 

Huron District, No. 3 31,159 

St. Clair District, No. 4 347,242 



Total 
barrels. 

Iosco District, No. 5 230,897 

Midland District, No. 6. 33,380 

Manistee District, No. 7 1,294,139 

Mason District, No. 8 341,668 



3,812,054 



THE SALT MARKET. 

The manufacture of salt of late has not been very protitable, and but for the fact 
that it has been produced in connection with the manufacture of lumber products, 
the refuse from the logs furnishing the fuel for evaporating the brine, the produc- 
tion of salt in this State would have been comparatively on a limited scale. The 
impression has gained a foothold throughout the country that the salt indus- 
try is a monopoly, and that every person who engaged therein was inevitably to 
become a millionaire. That such is not the fact is shown by tie following com- 
parison of net prices obtained by the manufacturers, based on a barrel of 280 
pounds, with a 20-cent package included: 



er barrel, 1866 


$1 80 


Average price per barrel, 1879 


$1 02 


" 1867 


1 77 






1880 


75 


1868 


1 85 






1881 - 


83 2-3 


1869 


1 58 






' 1882 


70 


1870 


1 32 






1883 


81 


1871 


1 46 






1884 


75 2-3 


1872 


1 46 






1885 


70' 


187.S 


1 37 






1886 


66 


" 1874 


1 19 






1887.. 


57 4-10 


1875.. 


1 10 






1888 


58 5-10 


1876 


1 05 






1889 

1890 


54 3-10 


1877 


85 


54 7-10 


" 1878 


85 






1891 


55 



There is no commodity of general domestic consumption so cheap as Michigan 
salt. 



COAL 



BY S. G. HIGGINS, SAGINAW. 



Coal Ib found in this State over a pretty wide area, in Huron, Arenac, Shiawas- 
see, Clinton, Ingham, Eaton, Jackson, and in other counties; but it has only been 
extensively mined in Shiawassee and Jackson counties, principally in the latter. 
Coal mining has for many years been a prominent industry in and about Jackson. 
(Extract Report Mineral Statistics.) 

[Extract from Review of Ssiginaw Board of Trade.] 

It has been known for many years that coal beds existed in the Saginaw valley, 
but no practical efforts were made to develop them until about three years ago, 
when two mines were opened at Sebewaing, forty miles northeast of Saginaw, on 
the line of the Saginaw, Tuscola & Huron railroad, one by the Saginaw Bay Coal 
Company, controlled by Saginaw capitalists, aad the other by the Sebewaing Coal 
Company, controlled by Bay City and Tuscola county capitalists. The coal has 
found a ready market, the demand being greater than the companies were able to 
supply, owing to the scarcity of labor to work the mines. During 1892 there were 
shipped from Sebewaing. eight hundred and six cars of coal, being an average of 
sixty-seven cars per month, which went to various points in the State. The 
demand for the coal is rapidly increasing, and during the present winter the com- 
panies were compelled to decline many orders. 

The coal is found at Sebewaing about one hundred feet from the surface, in a 
bed averaging four and one-half feet in thickness. It is an excellent quality of 
bituminous coal. Owing to its cokeing qualities, it has a tendency to run together 
and form a mass on the grates, unless properly handled. At first this was a 
serious drawback to the use of the coal, but now that it is better understood, the 
firemen have no diflBculty in using it. The coal possesses more heat units than 
the Ohio coal, and is a cheaper fuel for the Saginaw valley. 
16 



122 



Michigan and its Resources. 



Ed &I1 



- o 



So •? 

!/3 O 



s .S 



q; UU 



Surface. 



16 ft.- 
27 f t.- 



45 ft. 



75 ft. 



92/2 ft." 



16 ft. Brown Sand. 



J] ft. Clay. 



18 ft. Sand. 



30 ft. Blue Clay. 



17H ft. Sand and Giarel 



The following diagram of stratification was furnished by Saginaw board of trade: 

This salt well, as will be seen by 
the diagram, passed through two 
coal bearing strata, one 23 feet in 
thickness, at a depth of 211 feet, and 
the other 10 feet, at a depth of 246 
feet. This salt well was located in 
the city of East Saginaw, now a part 
of the city of Saginaw. The accom- 
panying diagram is reproduced from 
the record made of the well at the 
time it was put down. It is some- 
what remarkable that this coal has 
not yet been opened up, and is an 
illustration of the fact that we have 
not yet begun to comprehend the 
great natural wealth and resources 
of the Saginaw valley. 

In 1875 coal was discovered five 

miles west of Saginaw, on section 

12, town 12 north, range 3 east. A 

report of the discovery, printed at 

78H ft. Brown Sand Stone. ^^^ ^ime, states as follows: 

'• Two holes, one-fourth mile apart, 
were sunk to the depth of one hun- 
dred and sixty-four feet, resulting 
in finding a superior article of bitu- 
minous coal. During the past sum- 
mer another hole was bored nearly 
a fourth mile distant from the 
others, and the following is the log 
of the borers: 

Feet. 

Sand 16 

Clay and hard pan 85 

Sulphuret of iron 2 

Sandstone and slate 23 

Coal 41^ 

Sandstone, state and shale 24 

Coal 7 



171 ft.- 



197 ft. 



211 ft. 



234 ft.- 
246 ft. 
S56ft. 



26 ft. Dark Shale. 



14 ft. Light Shale. 



I 



23 ft. Coal and 

Sand Stone. 



]2'/2 ft. Shale. 



I 



10 ft. Coal iind 

SaudStune. 



37^ Blue Shale. 



Total 1611^ 

"The following analysis was re- 
ported by the chemist to whom the 
coal borings were submitted: 



Coal. 123 

Per cent. 

Carbon , -- 73.3 

Ash — .. . 5.7 

Sulphur .68 

"The almost entire absence of sulphur and the large preponderance of carbon 
render this, it is claimed by those who claim to be posted, fully equal to the 
product of the celebrated Blossburg and Cumberland mines." 

The report goes on to say that drillings at a point southwest from the holes 
above mentioned, on the banks of the Tittabawassee river, struck a bed of coal 
seven feet thick, one hundred and fifty-eight feet from the surface. 

During the past year coal has been discovered at numerous places in Saginaw 
county, south and southwest from Saginaw, from forty to fifty feet below the 
surface, with good roof, and in beds of five to seven feet in thickness, and of a 
most excellent quality. 

There is no reason to doubt but the whole Saginaw valley is underlaid with 
rich deposits of coal, which will furnish an unlimited supply of fuel for the great 
manufacturing industries to be developed. 

It is said by experts who have examined the coal, that it is what is called a 
"caking" or coking coal, and suitable for use in smelting iron ore. This is the 
nearest coal to the rich bessemer ores of the upper peninsula, and these ores 
could be hauled in cars direct from the mines to Saginaw for smelting, saving the 
long journey to Cleveland and Pittsburgh, and the numerous transfers from cars 
to boats and from boats to cars. Furthermore, the cars could run winter and 
summer, and save the expense of piling the ore on the surface at the mines dur- 
ing the winter while navigation is closed. It requires two tons of coke to smelt 
one ton of ore, and hence the ore must come to the coke for smelting. The great 
deposits of iron ore in the Duluth region cannot be utilized there, for want of fuel, 
but with a good coke at Saginaw we could smelt a large part of these ores. 

This is an essential element of independence in the State. While the State is 
not far from Ohio and Pennsylvania and transportation is not exhorbitant, without 
a home supply we would be subject to accidents and at the mercy of combines. 
If the coal supply develops, as anticipated by the more sanguine and enterprising, 
Michigan takes one step upward. 



^ » 



RAILROAD DEPARTMENT— THE COMMISSIONER OF 

RAILROADS. 



BY E. A. RUNDELL. 



The Commissioner of Railroads is appointed under the provisions of act No. 79,. 
session laws of 1873. He holds his office for the term of two years upon appoint- 
ment of the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and until 
his Bucceesor is appointed and qualified. 

It is the duty of the Commissioner of Railroads generally to examine into the 
condition and management of the business of the railroads in the State, so far as 
the same affects or relates to the interests of the public, and to ascertain whether 
such railroad companies and their officers and employes comply with the laws of 
the State in force concerning them. 

It is also his duty to require annual reports from all railroad companies doing 
business in the State on the first day of April of each year, showing their condition 
and traffic operations for the year ending on the 31st of December preceding. 

At least once each year to visit every county in the State having a railroad 
station within its limits, and to inspect and examine the tracks, bridges, buildings, 
and other structures, so as to know that they are in safe and effective condition, 
and managed in accordance with the police regulations of the State. 

To order safety gates or riagmen at highway and street crossings; to prescribe a 
uniform code of signals at all crossings and junctions of railroads within the State; 
to inspect and determine upon the sufficiency of all fences and to prescribe the 
manner of constructing the same; to require and receive reports of all accidents 
resulting in a loss of life or otherwise, and to investigate the causes of the same; 
to direct the erection of safety guards at overhead obstructions; to provide a uniform 
system of accounts for all the railroad corporations of the State; to regulate the 
speed of trains upon defective tracks and to stop them entirely if in his judgment 
the public safety requires. To direct prosecutions for infractions of the railroad 
laws; to compute and report to the Auditor General on the first of July of each 
year the taxes due and paj^able from each railroad company, and from all palace 
car companies, fast freight lines, etc., doing business in the State, upon their gross 



The Raileoad Department. 125 

ireceipts for the preceding year; to make an annual report to the Governor, on or 
before the first day of January of each year, of his doings for the preceding year, 
or for the time intervening since his last report, containing such facts, statements 
and explanations as will disclose the actual workings of the system of railroad 
transportation of freight and passengers, and its bearings upon the business pros- 
perity, personal convenience and safety of the people of the State, with such sug- 
gestions in relation thereto as to him may seem appropriate. 

He is empowered to appoint a deputy, with the approval of the Governor, whose 
powers are defined by law, and in case of the death, resignation or removal of the 
commissioner, the deputy performs the duties of the commissioner until a suc- 
cessor shall be appointed. (See 3285 to 3312 a inclusive, Howell's annotated stat- 
utes.) He shall also appoint a mechanical engineer. (See act 247, laws of 1887.) 

It will be seen from the above that the office of Commissioner of Kailroads is a 
very important and responsible position. It is ably filled by the present incum 
bent, Hon. S. R. Billings, of Davison, Mich. 

The duties and work of the department of the Commissioner of Railroads will be 
more readily understood when it is remembered there are 79 railroad companies 
operating in this State with a mileage of 7,502 of main line track, exclusive of spurs 
and side tracks, and 1,489 railway stations required to be inspected every year. 
There are also 773 wood and iron bridges, 30 draw bridges, 2,302 combination and 
trestles, 340 railroad crossings at grade, 40 railroad crossings over or under, 7,282 
highway crossings, 495 highway crossings with gates or signals, 318 highway cross- 
ings over or under, 9,712 miles of fencing, 75 interlocking and derailing switch and 
signal systems. These all require the constant attention of the Commissioner, 

The railroads operating in and partly within and partly without Michigan are a 
very important factor in connection with the business commerce of the State. 
They employ 26,838 persons in the State, carry about 34,208,271 passengers and 
move 57,852,628 tons of freight per year. The total income from all sources 
amounts to $96,682,121.41, and the total amount paid out for operating expenses, 
interest and rentals amounts to 887, 141,-330.11. The amount of authorized capital 
stock and debt is §767,668,559.30. The total cost of the railroads and equip- 
ments for Michigan to December 31, 1892, is 8294,611,753,84; 3.222 locomotives. 
1,650 passenger cars and 108,246 cars of all other kinds are used in conducting this 
vast amount of business, which is steadily increasing. It required 65,547 tons 
of new rails and 2,370,130 new ties to keep the railroads in Michigan in repair 
for the year ending 1891. 

The amount of taxes for the year ending December 31, 1892, due the State 
from the railroads and payable July 1, 1893, is 8893,762.01, an increase of 839,- 
427.89 over the year 1891. The taxes paid the State by railroads is steadily 
increasing, and for thes past five years shows an average increase of 836,328.69. 
If this increase is maintained, the amount will soon reach 81,000,000. 

A little study of the above will show the necessity and importance of the 
duties of the Commissioner of Railroads and his department. 

Railroads are in close touch with the pulse of the nation. They throb and 
beat with every fluctuation of business. The volume of business done by the 
railroads indicate the prosperity of the State and country. 

Several important bills were passed by the legislature of 1893 affecting the 
railroads operating in this State. The two most important are as follows: A 



126 Michigan and its Resources. 

bill to provide separate grades for railroads and public highways and streets 
where railroads intersect such highways and streets; also a bill to regulate the 
construction of the tracks of railroads and street railroads across each other, 
and stringing of wires, electric or other, above railroad tracks, and relative to 
the maintenance of such tracks heretofore so constructed and wires heretofore 
so strung. 

Great credit is due to the officers managing the railroads in this State for 
the constant care and efficient manner in which they are operated, and it is only 
fair to state that the management and officers of the railroads doing business 
in Michigan are ever desirous and willing to obey and comply with the laws. 
They cheerfully cooperate with the Commissioner of Railroads in carrying out 
recommendations or instructions given by said commissioner tending to promote 
the safety or the protection of life and property. 

The tigures given in this article are chiefly taken and compiled from the 
annual reports ending December 31, 1891. 

At this date nearly every county in the State is traversed by railroads. A 
glance at the map in the front of this book will show how well the State is 
supplied with this convenience, and the competition is so great the fare for pass- 
enger and freight is reasonable if not low. It is deemed unnecessary to make 
special mention of each road. 

TRANSPORTATION. 

Besides a network of railroads no country in the world of equal magnitude will 
show equal facilities for water transportation. All cities on the coast of the great 
lakes surrounding Michigan have communication with the world. Vessels carry- 
ing 1,000,000 feet of newly cut lumber clear from ports on Lake Michigan. A 
moment's reflection will surprise you. A freight car will carry 10,000 feet of lumber. 
It would require one hundred cars full loaded to carry one vessel load; five full 
trains of twenty cars each, with the necessary expense of five conductors, five 
engineers, five firemen, and a number of brakesmen, taking this with stationmen, ' 
roadmen, trackmen, all to be paid from the profits, makes it necessary as a busi- 
ness to charge higher freight rates than vessels. Saginaw is miles inland and . 
yet is connected by river navigable by large vessels. Grand Rapids will in the 
course of time be linked to Lake Michigan by a deepening of Grand tiver. New 
York has a few cities which are favored by water transportation. Ohio has Cleve- 
land, Cincinnati and Toledo. Illinois has Chicago and cities on the Mississippi. 
Wisconsin has Milwaukee and other cities of less importance, and many other 
states a mere taste of water transportation. Michigan has Ontonagon, Marquette, 
the " Soo," Escanaba, Menomijiee, Muskegon, Grand Haven, Alpena, Port Huron, 
Saginaw, Bay City, St. Clair, Detroit, and others of smaller importance. More than 
any other country in the world, and in order to compete with this the railroads 
must offer great inducements in the way of cheap rates and accommodations. 

THE ST. CLAIR TUNNEL. 

The United States and the Dominion of Canada are divided by the St. Clair 
river, which great stream is the connecting link of the greatest group of lakes in 
the world. Through this river the waters of Lakes Michigan, Superior and Huron 



VIEWS TLLUSTRATIYE OF THE ST. CLAIR TTTNNEL 







TUNNEL PORTAL, AMERICAN SIDE 




APPROACH TO TUNNEL, CANADIAN SIDE 




MAMMOTH 
NNEL ENGINI 



RICAN PORT 



The Eailroad Department. 127 

flow onward toward the great tumble at Niagara, eventually to reach the briny- 
Atlantic through the wild, majestic St. Lawrence. 

It is by nature as well as by adoption the great artery or canal of inland com- 
merce, national and international in importance, hence to obstruct would be a 
national and international interruption. Across this great highway of navigation, 
the interchanging inland commerce between east and west, a way must be pro- 
vided. A bridge was impractiable, ferries difficult and uncertain on account of 
ice and interruption. The problem was solved by the Gi-and Trunk system by 
the construction of, in many respects, the greatest tunnel of modern history, virt- 
ually leaving the -grand St. Clair river clear to navigation uninterrupted by ferries. 
While it is intended to do no advertising in this work it would be impossible 
to make mention properly of the great St. Clair tunnel without mentioning the 
Grand Trunk railroad, the designer and finisher of the work. 

A few statistics, only a few of special interest, may be given here. The 
length of the tunnel proper is 6,025 feet, and of the open portals or approaches 
5,603 feet additional, or more than two miles in all, the longest sub-marine tunnel 
in the world. It is a continuous iron tube, nineteen feet ten inches in diameter, 
put together in sections as the work of boring proceeded, and firmly bolted 
together, the total weight of the iron aggregating 56,000,000 pounds. 

The work was commenced in September, 1888, and it was opened for freight 
traffic in October, 1891, a little more than three years being required for its com- 
pletion. Passenger trains began running through it December 7. 1891. The work 
was begun on both sides and carried on until the two sections met in mid-river, 
and with such accuracy that they were perfectly in line as they came together. 
Throughout its entire length it perforates a bed of blue clay, and with the excep- 
tion of an occasional pocket of quicksand and water, with once in a while a rock 
or bolder, the clay was the only material met. The borings were made by means 
of cylindrical steel shields with cutting edges, driven forward by hydraulic rams 
and as fast as the clay was cut away a section of the iron wall of the tunnel 
was bolted to its fellow section, and thus the wall was completed as the work 
progressed. The rails of the track rest upon cross ties only six inches apart, 
laid on stringers which in turn rest on a bed of brick and concrete, filling the 
bottom of the tube. 

The engines used for pulling the trains through the tunnel and up the steep 
grade after emerging, are the largest in the world, having ten drive wheels, and 
weighing nearly 200,000 pounds. The boilers are 74 inches in diameter, the fire- 
boxes 132 and one-half inches long and 42 and one-eighth inches wide, and the 
cylinders are 22 inches in diameter, with 28-inch stroke. 

The cost of the great tunnel was §2,700,000. and when it is understood that 
1.000 cars can be daily moved through it and this is contrasted with the slow, 
laborious and dangerous transfers by ferries, it will readily appear that the enor- 
mous expenditure was a wise undertaking and will yield profitable returns. 

We cannot give the G. T. R. R. Co. too much credit for the undertaking, 
when the expenditure and risk is considered. At its own expense it demonstrated 
the fact that capital and engineering skill will accomplish most anything. No 
one can pass through this tunnel without being impressed with the permanent 
character of its construction and the safety, speed, and certainty of travel and 
transportation. It will remain a lasting monument to its projectors. 



THE SHIPPING PORTS. 



BY KICHARD A. PARKER, C. E., OF MARQUETTE. 



The Lake Superior region furnished nearly fifty-five per cent of the ore mined 
in the United States in 1892. and of that quantity Michigan furnished eighty- 
six per cent. In no other part of the world are there equal facilities for the 
handling and transportation of such vast quantities of ore. A practically all water 
route from the mines to the furnaces makes possible the transportation of ores in 
great bulks. In fact, but for this provision of nature, the district would be almost 
worthless on account of the prohibitory cost of transportation in carload lots. 

The great extent of coast line and its deep indentations afford a number of 
fine harbors, some of which have been equipped expressly for the handling of 
iron ore. A brief sketch of these harbors will be of interest. The first Lake 
Superior iron ore was shipped from Marquette early in the fifties, and up to 
the close of 1892 a total of 18,644,203 tons had passed from its docks into the 
holds of vessels. The amount shipped in 1892 was 1,027,323 tons. Until 1879 
Marquette held the lead in quantity of ore handled, but in that year Escanaba 
gained it. Three docks, one recently built and another greatly extended, together 
with their incidental rolling stock, constitute the equipment for transferring the 
ore from the cars into the holds of lake carriers. No. 4 dock, built in 1889-90, 
is a specimen of the most modern and perfect structure of its class and cost 
$250,000. It was fully described and illustrated, with the designer's drawings, 
in the New York Engineering and Mining Journal of January 10 and 17, 1891. 

Herewith is a brief sketch of the three docks all owned by the Duluth, South 
Shore and Atlantic Railway Company. 

No. 1. — Height of dock above water forty-two feet for first thirteen hundred feet 
of its length; the new extension of six hundred feet is forty -four feet above water; 
number of pockets two hundred and seventy, number of tracks three, capacity 
twenty-seven thousand long tons. 

No. 2. — This was a small and antiquated structure. In 1892 it was dismantled 
and a merchandise pier was erected on the piles. 

No. 3. — Height of dock above water forty-four feet, length sixteen hundred feet, 
number of pockets three hundred, number of tracks three, capacity twenty-five 
thousand long tons. 



The Shipping Ports. 129 



No. 4. — Height above water, forty-seven and one-half feet; length, fourteen hun- 
dred feet; capacity thirty thousand long tons. 

L'Anse became an ore shipping pott in 1873 by the building of a dock owned 
by the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad Company for the handling of 
the product from the west end of the Marquette range. The dock is thirty-eight 
feet high, one thousand feet long, contains a hundred pockets, and has a capac- 
ity of eight thousand long tons. No ore has been shipped thence since 1885. The 
total reached seven hundred and forty-four thousand six hundred and ninety-seven 
tons. 

St. Ignace has been a shipping port on a small scale since 1882, and has handled 
six hundred and ten thousand two hundred and fifteen tons of ore. In 1891 the 
dock was shortened four hundred feet, the material being removed to Marquette 
for the extension of No. 1 dock there. As constructed it was eight hundred feet 
long, forty-two feet high, contained one hundred pockets and three tracks, and 
had a capacity of ten thousand long tons. 

Escanaba has maintained the lead she won in 1879 and her aggregate tonnage 
of iron ore in 1891 and 1892 led the world. Shipment began in 1865 by putting 
the Marquette range under tribute. In 1877 the new Menominee range began to 
empty her treasures into the lap of the coming iron port of the world. In 1892 
her shipments were 4,012,197 tons, nearly one-half the entire ore shipment of the 
whole Lake Superior region. The stupendous quantity of 33,975,454 tons of iron 
ore has passed through her gates en route to lower lake receiving ports. 

The Chicago and Northwestern Railway company is the owner of the five 
immense docks at Escanaba. These docks, together with their equipment of cars, 
cost 82,290,000. They are described as follows: 

No. 1. — Height, forty-six feet; length eleven hundred and four feet; pockets, one 
hundred and eighty-four; tracks, two; capacity twenty-three thousand long tons. 

No. 2. — Height, thirty-nine feet; length, ten hundred and eighty-two feet; pockets, 
one hundred and ninety-two; tracks, two; capacity, nineteen thousand three hun- 
dred long tons. 

No. 3. — Height, thirty-nine feet; length, twelve hundred and twelve feet; pockets, 
two hundred and two; tracks, two; capacity, twenty thousand long tons. 

No. 4. — Height, forty-six feet; length, fifteen hundred feet; pockets, two hundred 
and fifty; tracks, two; capacity, thirty-three thousand two hundred long tons. 

No. 5. — Height, fifty-one feet ten inches; length, thirteen hundred and ninety-two 
feet; pockets, two hundred and thirty-two; tracks, two; capacity, forty thousand 
six hundred long tons. 

At Ashland the Wisconsin Central railway has one dock forty-six feet high, fourteen 
hundred and four feet long, contains two hundred and thirty-four pockets and 
three tracks, and has a capacity of twenty-eight thousand two hundred and fifty 
long tons. With its equipments the total cost was S644,800. The Milwaukee, Lake 
Shore & Western has two docks there, one forty and the other forty-five feet high. 
Each is fourteen hundred and four feet long and contains two hundred and thirty- 
four pockets. One has four and the other three tracks. Their capacity respectively 
is twenty-three thousand and twenty-seven thousand long tons. The total cost with 
equipments was 8813,000. 

Gladstone, Michigan, shares with Escanaba the care of the Menominee range 
product and an occasional cargo of Gogebic and Marquette ore goes out of this 
17 



130 



Michigan and its Resoukces. 



port. Shipments began in 1889 and attained an aggregate of -458,711 tons at the 
end of 1892. The Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic (Soo Line) is the owner 
of the dockage facilities, which consist of one dock forty-seven feet high, about 
twelve hundred feet in length, contains one hundred and twenty pockets and five 
tracks and has a capacity of sixteen thousand long tons. The docks are all wooden 
structures. The upper deck or floor is from forty to fifty feet above water level, 
sufficient to accommodate bins of fifteen to twenty feet depth with outward sloping 
bottoms below the floor level, and yet high enough to be well abov6 the rail of the 
largest vessels lying alongside. Plate iron chutes or spouts are hinged beneath 
small doors at the bottom of the pockets. The doors are controlled from the top 
of the docks and when opened they discharge the ore through the chutes into the 
hold of the vessel. In this manner a cargo of three thousand tons is often loaded 
in three hours. As many pockets can be simultaneously discharged as there are 
hatchways in the vessels. As the principal mining companies are the owners of 
the fleets of modern and capacious lake carriers employed exclusively in the ore 
transportation business, the product of the mines receives most expeditious con- 
veyance to the furnaces. 

BILBOA AND LAKE SUPERIOR COMPARED. 

The Bilboa district in Spain is the only iron producer in the world which 
will stand comparison with the Lake Superior district with great disparity as to 
quantity. The output in 1860 of the Bilboa district is not known. For the same 
period the production of the Marquette range, the only producing range in the 
Lake Superior district to 1860, and for many years after, is estimated at 203,676 
long tons. The figures for the Bilboa district are given in metric tons, but as 
the metric ton has an advantage of only thirty-four pounds over the long tons, 
the quantity making, as reported by the chief mining engineer of the province, 
may be compared with the Lake Superior figures, as shown in the following 
table prepared by John Birkinbine for embodiment in his 1891 report on mineral 
resources to the census bureau of the United States: 



Year. 


Bilboa. 


Lake Superior. 


Total, 1860 to 1890 inclnsive. 


1860 


69,816 

250,837 

2,683,627 

4,326,933 


114,401 

859,507 
1,962,477 
8,944,031 


Bilboa. 




1870 








1880 


45,099,253 




1890 


57,549,800 





EDUCATIONAL 



MICHIGAN'S SYSTEM OF COMMON SCHOOLS. 



BY J. E. HAMMOND, DEPUTY SUPEKINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 



The State of Michigan has an excellent school system. No State in propor- 
tion to the wealth gives a more generous support to its common schools, and 
the denominational colleges and normal schools take high rank among the edu- 
cational institutions of the country. 

CLASSIFICATION OF THE SCHOOLS. 

The common schools are known as graded and ungraded. The ungraded 
schools exist in the smaller country districts, and still preserve some of the 
chief features of the original primary school. 

Within the past ten years a large number of the ungraded country schools 
have been graded by the teachers and school officers, under the supervision of 
the county board of school examiners, and now have prescribed courses of study 
similar to those of the villages and cities. The work of grading all the coun- 
try schools is well begun and in the near future it may seem advisable to 
make another classification than graded and ungraded. 

The districts are well distributed throughout the State, two or three miles 
apart, containing from three to nine sections of land, and there is no consid- 
erable village or city within the boundary of Michigan which cannot point to 
its substantial school buildings as one of its most attractive features. The 
statistics gathered by the Superintendent . of Public Instruction for 1892 show 
that every organized county in the State was provided with school houses and 
that with very few exceptions all districts maintained school during the year 



1B2 



Michigan and its Kesources. 



The number of school houses reported for 1892 was 7,666, of which 5,897 were 
frame buildings and only 390 were log structures. The whole number of districts 
in 1892 was 7,145, and in the district were employed 16,100 teachers, receiving an 
aggregate of $2,639,301.54, not including the cost of buildings and the salaries 
paid in seventeen incorporated institutions within the limits of the State. 

HIGHER institutions OF LEARNING. 

The institutions above referred to may justly be considered a part of our school 
systems, as into them annually are received 'thousands of the best students of 
the State. These institutions supported by the State being noticed in another 
part of this work we speak briefly of them here. Aside from the school for 
dependent children, for the deaf, dumb and blind, reformatory for boys, and 
reformatory for girls, Michigan has reason to be proud of her mining school 
which is situated in the richest copper bearing region of the country. The Agri- 
cultural College, near Lansing, the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, and above 
and greater than all, the great University, at Ann Arbor. 

INCORPORATED INSTITUTIONS. 

It is eminently proper in this connection to accord a little time and space to 
a part of an educational system that may not be included elsewhere and which 
should not be overlooked. 

Statistics of the denoviinational schools of Michigan in 1892. 



Name. 



Albion College 

Alma College.. 

Adrian College.. 

Battle Creek College.. 

Benzonia College 

Detroit College 

Hillsdale College 

Hope College... 

Kalamazoo College 

Olivet College 

St. Mary's Academy... 

Spring Arbor Seminary 



Where 
located. 



Albion 

Alma 

Adrain 

Battle Creek 

Benzonia 

Detroit 

Hillsdale.... 

Holland 

Kalamazoo.. 
Olivet 

Monroe .. 

Spring Arbor 



Denomination. 



Methodist Epis- 
copal 

Presbyterian 

Protestant Meth- 
odist 

Seventh Day Ad- 
ventist 

Congregational . 

Catholic 

Free Baptist 

Dntch Reformed 

Baptist 

Congregat j onal , 
Presbyterian . . 

Catholic 

Free Methodist.. 



Name of 
President. 



L. B. Fiske.. 
A. F. Brnske. 



J. F. McCaUoch. 

VV. W.Prescott.. 
S. B. Harvey.. .. 
M. P. Dowling .. 
G. F. Mosher .... 

Charles Scott 

Theodore Nelson. 

W. G. Sperry .... 
Mother M.Clotil- 
da 

A. H. StilweU ... 







^ 




09 

•M-W 


n 




a 

CO 


E 
1 


=*-s 


^s 


TS 


a 


m 


a 


26 


610 


.^230,000 


13 


172 


81,000 


13 


187 


48,000 


25 


612 




9 


96 


38,000 


16 


310 




26 


524 


202,000 


12 


204 


136,000 


9 


177 


195,685 


20 


407 


142,252 


22 


176 




4 


100 





05© 
>0. 



$125,000 
150,000 

200,000 

105,508 
14,000 

160,000 
75,000 
40,000 
60,000 

174,320 

90,294 
10,000 



PRIVATE AND OTHER SCHOOLS. 

There are in Michigan a number of schools under private control of some merit. 
The Catholic church maintains parochial schools in all of the larger cities. At 
Kalamazoo is located a female seminary, and at Orchard Lake, near Pontiac, is a 
military academy, whose course includes instructions in military tactics. There 
are two medical colleges located in Detroit, and a number of private institutions 
throughout the State especially devoted to commercial training, prominent among 
which is the Ferris Industrial School at Big Rapids, Cleary's Business College at 



Educational. 133 



Ypeilanti, and Parson's Business College at Kalamazoo. The number of private 
schools in the State reported to the Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1892 
was two hundred and eighty-eight, giving instruction to 26,614 pupils. 

FUNDS FOR THE SUPPORT OF EDUCATION. 

There are several sources of revenue for the support of the primary school. 

1. Taxes voted by school districts. The voters of each district have authority 
to vote amounts for the support of schools during the year, under certain provi- 
sions of law imposed with the view of preventing extravagance. The taxes thus 
voted are reported by school officers to township officers and by them spread 
upon the tax roll for collection. The total taxation in Michigan in 1892 was 
83,826,315.63, or about one-third of a cent on a dollar of the assessed valuation of 
the State. 

2. The one viill tax. Beside the so-called district tax mentioned above, each 
township raises annually a tax of one-tenth of a cent on each dollar of its 
assessed valuation, and this is apportioned to the school district in which it was 
raised, provided such district has maintained at least the minimum school term 
required by law. Such part of this tax as may have been raised in unorganized 
territory, or in districts not maintaining the required school term, is apportioned 
to those districts which have complied with the law, according to the number of 
children in the school census. In 1892 the amount realized from the one mill 
tax was 8661,804.53. 

3. The Primary School Fund. This amount is paid to the schools twice each 
year, on the tenth day of May and November. The Superintendent of Public 
Instruction apportions this fund to the various counties in proportion to the 
number of children of school age — 5 to 20 — in the county. The amount for each 
county is apportioned to the township and school districts, so that every county, 
township and school district receives now from the State in 1893 an amount 
equal to three-fourths of the entire State tax paid. Upon the organization of 
Michigan as a State, the moneys derived from the sale of section 16 was made 
a permanent school fund, and controlled by the State as a whole, and not by 
each individual township, as in some states. Another source of revenue to this 
fund is the money received from the sale of swamp lands. Formerly only one- 
half received from the sale of swamp lands went into the school fund ; now the 
whole amount is made available for the use of the schools. The extinguishment 
of the State debt has also left the specific tax paid by the corporations, to be 
added to the income of the primary school fund. The amount per capita of the 
primary school fund twice each year is about 75 cents per pupil. Total amount 
received in this way in 1892 was 8906,810, while in the May apportionment alone 
in 1893 nearly 8520.000 was distributed. 

4. Aid comes to the schools from various other sources. The tuition of non- 
resident pupils amounts to a considerable in many graded village schools, and by 
a law of the legislature of 1881 all the money received from the dog tax in 
excess of 8100 goes into the fund for the support of schools. The total amount 
received from miscellaneous sources in 1892 was 8279,683. 

The entire sum realized for school purposes in 1892 was 85,7.38,222.69. 



134 Michigan and its Eesoueces. 



SCHOOL YEAR REQUIRED BY LAW. 

In section V of article XIII of the constitution of the State is found the fol- 
lowing provision: "A school shall be maintained in each school district at least 
three months in each year." Also in section XIV of chaper IV of the school 
laws will be found the statutory provision concerning the number of months to 
be taught in a school year, to entitle districts to their share of the school funds. 
Districts having less than thirty children are required to maintain school at least 
three months; districts having thirty and less than eight hundred children, five 
months, and nine months in all districts having more than eight hundred chil- 
dren. The penalty for non-compliance with this requirement is the forfeiture of 
the primary money and mill tax. Very few districts in Michigan are deprived 
of money for these reasons. 

SUPERVISION. 

The head of Michigan's school system is the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion, whose duties are too numerous to be enumerated here. One of the most 
important of the duties of this official is the preparing of an annual report 
containing: 

A statement showing the condition of the State and incorporated institutions, 
also the primary, graded and high schools. 

Estimates and amounts of expenditure of all educational funds. 

Plans for the management of all educational funds and the better organiza- 
tion of the educational system. 

Abstracts of the annual report of the school inspectors of the several town- 
ships and cities of the State. 

teachers' INSTITUTES. 

He is authorized by law to conduct teachers' institutes in various parts of the 
State, or if unable to attend in person, to appoint a suitable person or persons 
to conduct the same, subject to certain regulations which the superintendent 
may prescribe. Such institutes are held annually in nearly every county, and 
are of much practical value to those who avail themselves of the advantages 
thus afforded. During the year 1892 institutes were held in sixty-nine counties 
of the State, with an aggregate attendance of 6,346 teachers. All male teachers 
are required to pay an annual institute fee of one dollar, and all female teachers 
a fee of fifty cents. This amount with a State appropriation not to exflfeed §1,800, 
is used for the support of teachers" institutes. The Superintendent of Public 
Instruction is elected at the November election for a term of two years and 
receives a salary of $2,000 per year. 

CITY SCHOOLS. 

The control of the city schools is in the hands of a school board, consisting of 
five or more members, elected at the annual school meeting for terms of three 
years. The supervision and government of each school is in the hands of a super- 
intendent of schools, who is elected by the school board annually for a period 
of one year, although many city boards make contracts with the superintendent 



Educational. 135 



for two or three years. The superintendent of schools is held responsible to the 
school board for the care and management of all the schools of the city district 
and makes reports to the school board and Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
The schools in most cities are not under the supervision of the 

COUNTY COMMISSIONER OF SCHOOLS. 

This officer is elected by the people of each county at the spring election for a 
term of two years. His salary is fixed by the board of supervisors limited by 
certain provisions of law, relative to the number of schools under supervision. 
The minimum salary in counties containing fifty schools is $500, and maximum 
salary paid in any county is 81,500. He visits all the schools of the county, 
receives reports from townships and district school officers and transmits them to 
the county clerk and Superintendent of Public Instruction; he also makes such 
reports to the Superintendent of Public Instruction as may be required by that 
official. As assistant conductor of the institute he is expected to take an active 
part in the work of the institute and is usually appointed on a committee of 
local management. Perhaps the most important of the duties of the commis- 
sioner is the 

EXAMINATION OF TEACHERS. 

In this work he is assisted by two school examiners, who are appointed by the 
board of supervisors for terms of two years. This board of examiners conducts 
the examinations and grants certificates to successful applicants. Questions for 
examination are all prepared by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and 
sent to the commissioner under seal with instructions that seal shall not be 
broken until the morning of the examination in the presence of the teachers. 
Applicants for all grades of certificates are examined on the last Thursday and 
Friday of March and the first Thursday and Friday of August of each year, 
and for those who apply for. third grade only, special examinations, not to exceed 
four in any year, are conducted by the board of examiners. 

In addition to the common branches persons desiring second grade certificates 
are required to pass an examination in algebra and natural philosophy. Those 
who apply for a certificate of the first grade are examined in geometry, general 
history and botany, also all of the branches mentioned above. 

The work of candidates for the first grade must be examined, approved and 
countersigned by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to be valid through- 
out the State. First grade certificates are valid for four years, second grade for 
three years and third grade for one year, unless sooner revoked for cause by 
the power granted them. The institute fee is usually collected at the time of 
examination. For their services the two examiners each receive four dollars 
per day. 

THE TOWNSHIP BOARD 

is composed of the township clerk and two school inspectors. This board has con- 
trol of the township library, establishes the boundaries of school districts, may 



186 Michigan and its Kesoueces. 

make alteration in the boundaries of the same, make a report to the county com- 
missioner and Superintendent of Public Instruction of the schools of the town- 
ship, and hear and settle disputes from district officers. 

THE DISTRICT OFFICERS 

are three in number, namely, director, moderator and assessor. The director is 
secretary and the chief officer. The moderator is chairman of the board, also of 
the district meetings. He countersigns all orders drawn by the director. The 
assessor is the treasurer of the board and pays out the funds of the district on 
order of the other officers. To this board is entrusted the care and management 
of the schools, such as keeping district property in repair, employing teachers^ 
etc., subject to certain limitations which cannot be enumerated here. 

TEXT BOOKS. 

Michigan has no adopted series of text books. This question is left mainly to 
local control with certain instructions of law. The district board is authorized 
by law to specify the studies to be pursued in the schools of the district and 
said board is required to make a record of the adoption of text books, and it 
is unlawful for them to change such books within five years, except by the con- 
sent of a majority of the qualified voters at a regularly called meeting. This is 
a wise provision and prevents the too frequent change of text books by district 
officers. Books to indigent children may be furnished by the district board to 
children whose parents are unable to buy the necessary books and the expense- 
thereof paid the same as any other district expense. 

FREE TEXT BOOKS 

may be provided by a district board to all the children of the district if so 
authorized by a majority of the qualified voters. 

LIBRARIES 

are found in many Michigan schools. There is scarcely a school in the State 
employing more than one teacher that does not possess a few books of refer- 
ence, and many schools possess large and well arranged libraries. In 1892, 520 
townships and 1110 districts reported libraries, while the whole number of volumes 
reported in both township and district libraries for the same year was 548,652. 
The amount paid for the support of district libraries was $76,575.33, and for 
township libraries 85,860.12. A tax for the support of a township library may be 
voted by the voters at the annual meeting and raised in the same manner as 
any other township tax, but more than four-fifths of the whole amount are penal 
fines, obtained according to the provisions of Section XII of Article XIII, of 
the constitution of the State. 

"Section 12. The legislature shall also provide for the establishment of at 
least one library in each township and city; and all fines assessed and collected 
in the several counties and townships for any breach of the penal laws shall be- 
exclusively applied to the support of such libraries, unless otherwise ordered by 



> 

CD 
O 
?0 





Michigan School for the Blind, Lansing. 




State Public School, Coldwater. 



Educational. 137 



the township board of auy township, or the board of education of any city: 
Provided, That in no case shall such tines be used for other than library or 
school purposes." 

READING CIRCLES. 

Another great factor for good we mention the reading circle which has been 
formed in many schools' in the State, and in the hands of energetic commis- 
sioners, superintendents and teachers are doing much to keep out the hvu-tful, 
trashy reading and supply in its place books of travel, history, science and 
choice gems of literature before stories of train robberies and murder are 
thought of. 

NORMAL SCHOOLS AND PROFESSIONAL INSTRUCTION. 

No sketch of the primary school system of the State would be complete with- 
out at least a mention of our Normal School, at Ypsilanti. 

This institution is included in the article on the State institutions, but a few 
facts even if repeated will be of interest. Organized in 1852 it is now in the forty- 
second year of its usefulness. In 1892 one hundred and seventy-eight students 
graduated from its courses, thirty-seven instructors were employed and one thou- 
sand three hundred and eighteen students were in attendance during the year. 
The estimated value of the buildings and grounds of this institution is nearly a 
quarter of a million dollars, and over twelve thousand books are found in the 
library. For the support of the school the legislature appropriates about $50,000 
annually and the income from productive funds is about $5,000 per year. In all 
two thousand two hundred students have graduated from the school, besides 
many others who, not having completed the course, are numbered among the pro- 
gressive teachers of the State. Michigan is justly proud of the work of this 
great institution, and its influence is felt in almost every village and city through 
the entire State. 

THE UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGES 

of the State recognize the value of professional training for teachers and nearly 
all have normal departments under the charge of practical and scholarly common 
school men. Recognizing such instruction as of real merit the legislature in the 
season of 189.3 passed an act making it lawful for the State Board of Education to 
grant teachers' certificates to the graduates of certain colleges which give the 
required amount of normal instruction. In this connection it should be stated that 
graduates from the State Normal School are legally qualified teachers, as are 
the graduates of the literary department of the University. 

The demand for trained teachers is such that in several localities normal schools 
under private control are conducted by able, experienced educators and are doing 
good service to the schools of the State. Among the foremost of such schools are 
mentioned the Business and Collegiate Institute at Benton Harbor, Normal at 
Fenton, Industrial School at Big Rapids, Normal School and Business College, 
at Mt. Pleasant. 
18 



138 Michigan and its Eesources. 



THE SUMMER SCHOOLS 

at i5ay View, Agricultural College and Alma, should not be forgotten by those 
who desire instruction during the long vacation. The State teachers' institute 
already mentioned, also county teachers' association, are doing much and stimu- 
late to better and more professional labor. 

KINDERGARTEN METHOD 

for the children of the lower grades. The introduction of this kind of instruc- 
tion is of comparatively recent date and its value to the schools of the State can- 
not be overestimated. The legislature of 1891 very wisely passed an act making 
it lawful for any school board in the State to provide a suitable room and neces- 
sary apparatus for this work. The same act provides that the district board may 
require teachers to be qualified to give such instruction in addition to the other 
qualifications required. By this act children between the ages of four and seven 
are entitled to instruction in the kindergarten department. 

The education of the body should go hand in hand with the training of the 
mind, for worse than an untrained raSnd in a healthy body is an educated mind 
in a body broken down with overstudy, poor ventilation and improper light. 
The educators of Michigan, aware of the fact that good health is necessary for 
happiness, have adopted 

PHYSICAL TRAINING 

as a part of high school and college courses and no school course is considered 
symmetrical or complete without exercise with dumb bells, Indian clubs, march- 
ing, calisthenics, drill, etc., and to the credit of our law makers we may add 
that $20,000 for a building for physical training at the State Normal School was 
appropriated during the session of 1893. The health of the Michigan boy and girl 
has become the first question to be considered by the professional teacher. 

MUSIC AND DRAWING 

is fast becoming a part of the course of study in our larger graded schools. 
Besides being taught to some extent in nearly all graded schools, forty villages 
and cities in the State in 1892 employed special teachers in music and about the 
same number of schools employed special drawing teachers. In a nut shell we 
have: 

Seven thousand one hundred and seventy-five school districts. 

Seven thousand six hundred and sixty-six school houses. 

Sixteen thousand one hundred teachers employed. 

Six hundred and seventy-four thousand, two hundred and seventy -nine children 
of school age. 

Parochial schools in large cities. 

Twenty or more private schools (business colleges, normal schools). 

Seventeen incorporated colleges and schools. 

School for Feeble Minded and Epiletic (established in 1893). 



Educational. 139 



School for Dependent Children. 

Industrial Home for Girls. 

Industrial School for Boys. 

School for the Blind. 

School for the Deaf and Dumb. 

Mining School. 

Normal School. 

Agricultural College. 

University. 

In considering what has been accomplished and what is being done in the line of 
progress in the State, we feel that educational interests have not suffered and that 
the founders of our State government did their work .wisely. To them we say, 
" well done." Men or institutions founded by them are not perfect. Conditions 
change and the system so nearly perfect must undergo changes to keep pace with 
the progress of the age. Schools in cities and villages are kept abreast of the 
times by election of capable men to places on the school board while in many 
country districts men who can be persuaded to accept the offer are selected. Such 
selections many times are made from the ranks of those who have only an indif- 
ferent interest in the welfare of the school. For this and other reasons the schools 
should be changed from district to 

TOWNSHIP CONTROL. 

This change in our school system is desirable and when the people of a town- 
ship can be convinced that their schools will be better managed by a board of 
five or more representative men elected by the people of the township instead 
of three school ofhcers in each of the several districts, making in some town- 
ships' thirty or forty school oflB.cers, we may hope for better schools without nec- 
cessarily incurring greater expense. 

Last, but by no means least, children in the schools of Michigan are taught 

PATRIOTISM. 

In the reading books, in stories of American history, in patriotic recitations 
and songs, in exercises with flags, and in pole raisings, the boys and girls are 
taught a reverence for " Old Glory," and over many a school house from the fer- 
tile fields of the south to the pines and mines of the north " The Star Spangled 
Banner Triumphantly Waves." 



THE STATE UNIVERSITY, 



BY J. H. WADE, SECRETARY. 



The University of Michigan has for years maintained its position as one of 
the first of American educational institutions. It is strong in the breadth of its 
fundamental plan, the practical usefulness of its work, the value of its contri- 



140 Michigan and its Eesoueces. 

butions to the general stock of knowledge, the ample character of its equipment, 
the cheapness with which its advantages can be enjoyed and its thoroughly 
democratic atmosphere. 

ITS REMAEKABLE DEVELOPMENT. 

It was first opened to the public in 18il, and hence has had an active existence 
of tifty-two years. Within that time its corps of three instructors has grown to 
one hundred and sixty-five instructors and assistants, and its list of students, 
which in its first catalog contained about fifty-three names, has reached nearly 
twenty-eight hundred. Originally a more local school, unknown beyond the limits 
of the State, it has won an international reputation, and its rolls have borne the 
names of students from all parts of the United States and from many foreign 
countries. 

ITS LOCATION, BUILDINGS AND DEPARTMENTS. 

The University is located in the city of Ann Arbor, thirty-eight miles west of 
Detroit, on the Michigan Central railroad. Fifteen buildings are situated upon a 
high plateau in a campus of forty acres in extent. The astronomical observatory 
and the two hospitals are on the high bluff overlooking the Huron valley. The 
University now contains the following departments: 1. The department of litera- 
ture, science and the arts, embracing, a, graduate school; 6, the collegiate work; 
c, the work in engineering. 2. The department of medicine and surgery. 3. The 
department of law. 4. The school of pharmacy. 5. The homeopathic medical 
college. 6. The college of dental surgery. Each of these departments has its 
faculty of instruction, who are charged with its special management. 

TERMS OF ADMISSION. 

All students on entering pay a matriculation fee, which to residents of the State- 
is $10, and to non-residents $25. This fee entitles the student to all the privi- 
leges of permanent membership. The annual fees are as follows: In the literary 
department, $20 for residents and $25 for non-residents; in the professional schools^ 
$25 and $35. When a degree is taken a diploma fee of $10 must be paid. Board 
and rooms are obtainable in private families at Ann Arbor at from $3 to 85 per 
week; rooms without board at from 75 cents to $2 per week. Students by form- 
ing clubs can bring their expenses within the weekly range of from $2 to $3- 
Those who do not care to become candidates for regular degrees may take optional 
courses, pursuing only such studies as they may select. Women are admitted to- 
all branches of the University on the same terms as men. 

LENGTH OF TERMS. 

The regular term in the collegiate department covers four years, in the med- 
ical schools four years, in the dental school three years and in the law school; 
and in the pharmacy school two years each. 



Educational. 141 



THE MUSEUMS AND LABORATORIES. 

The museums contain large collections in natural history, agriculture, archasology, 
ethnology, the fine arts, history, anatomy and materia medica. In the laborato- 
ries opportunities are provided for practical instruction in physics, chemistry, geol- 
ogy, zoology, animal morphology, botany, physiology and dentistry. 

THE HOSPITALS. 

In the hospitals facilities are afforded to medical students foV instruction by 
clinics. Patients are received in them and treated without charge except for med- 
icines and board, and all persons suffering from diseases of any kind, except those 
of a contagious character, are granted admission. 

ATTENDANCE IN 1893. 

The total enrollment of students in all departments in March, 1893. was as 
follows: 

Department of literature, science and the arts 1,491 

Department of medicine and surgery 344 

Department of law 639 

School of pharmacy 82 

Homeopathic medical college , 63 

College of dental surgery 189 

2,808 
Deduct for names counted twice 30 

Total attendance 2,778 

Of the foregoing 1,405 were residents of Michigan; the others came not only from 
other states and territories, but from foreign countries, including the British North 
American provinces, the Hawaiian islands, the Burmuda islands, England, Japan, 
Germany, China. Italy, Barbadoes, Bulgaria. Costa Rica, Porto Rico. Scotland and 
South Africa. 

THE POOR man's UNIVERSITY. 

This institution, with its ample equipment and its numerous courses of study, is 
emphatically the poor man's university. All its advantages are open at merely 
nominal fees to any qualified applicant. With personal economy the student can 
support himself during the collegiate year with but small expenditure. Not a few 
of those today in attendance there are paying their own way without assistance 
from parents or others. Labor is not despised at the University, and the cases 
have been numerous where young men in straitened circumstances have sought 
and obtained employment at Ann Arbor and with the wages thus earned aided 
materially their struggle after knowledge. Among the chief sources of the Univer- 
sity's strong hold upon the affections of the people who have so liberally sup- 
ported it must be reckoned this fact, that it shares so fully in the thoroughly 
democratic spirit of the primary schools. 



142 Michigan and its Eesources. 



THE MICHIGAN AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 

BY PRESIDENT O. CLUTE. 

The Agricultural College was incorporated in 1855. A few months later the^ 
present site was chosen, which is three and one-half miles east of Lansing, Con- 
tracts were soon let for a main building, a boarding hall, a small brick barn and 
four small cottages for professors' residences. These buildings were so far com- 
pleted as to enable the college to open in May, 1857, under the presidency of Hon. 
Joseph R. Williams. 

President Williams was a modern man. In him the ideas of the new education 
had come to full growth. He believed in a healthful, well trained body, a care- 
fully educated mind in which all the faculties should be thoroughly trained, and a 
keen moral nature, no less willing to grant to others their rights than to claim its 
own. He had been an early friend of the Agricultural College before the law was 
passed for its organization. He desired that the school should educate men, give- 
them strong bodies, skillful hands, well trained minds, pure morals. 

To train the body he relied on the farm and garden work, where young men 
should come into direct contact with soil and sun and by struggle with nature 
learn to conquer nature. To train the mind he looked to the study of the native 
tongue, of the great laws of mathematics permeating all nature through the power 
of the omnicient geometrician, and to a study of those great sciences which do but 
reveal to us the thoughts and methods of the omnipresent energy. To train the 
morals he depended on attrition of man with man and on the ever present influ- 
ence of pure character in companions, professors and instructors. 

He was followed in the presidency by Dr. T. C. Abbot, whose convictions were 
in the same channel, whose methods were similar. To those two men the. college 
owes its modern spirit, its rational methods, its success which has been slowly 
won, but which is as solid as the hills. 

When the college was first established it was an agricultural school, but after 
congress passed the Morrill act of 1862, its, provisions were accepted by Michigan, 
which made it necessary to add a course in mechanic arts to the course in agri- 
culture, and now the college has these two courses and no others. Its "leading 
object" is to teach agriculture and the mechanic arts. 

For this work it is now well equipped. In the thirty-five years of its life it has 
subdued the forest and made fertile farm, gardens and orchards. Gradually there 
have grown up many laboratories, barns, dormitories and dwellings. Its land, 
buildings and equipment have cost $450,000. Its library has 18,000 volumes. The 
facilities for imparting instruction in all its departments are superior. Its profes- 
sors are strong men, devoted to theJr work. 

The value of its work is shown by results. The students trained in its classes 
become men of force. They can work and win. A large per cent of them become 
agriculturists or mechanics. Those who take up other branches have the constant 
industry and the trained judgment that bring success. 

Those desiring further information are invited to address the president. Agri- 
cultural College P. O., Michigan. 



Educational. 



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144 Michigan and its Kesoukces. 



MICHIGAN MINING SCHOOL. 

BY M. E. WADS WORTH. 

This institution was established by the legislature of Michigan in 1885. and first 
opened for the admission of students Sept. 15, 1886. 

The object of the school is to give instruction in all subjects relating to the 
development of the mineral wealth of the country, and it has confined itself strictly 
to its original purpose. In carrying out the designs of its founders, both theoret- 
ical and practical instruction is provided for in the various subjects of mathematics, 
physics, drawing, blue printing, graphical statics, designing, chemistry, assaying, 
ore dressing, metallurgy, properties and mechanics of materials, mechanism, shop 
practice, mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, structural and mining engineering, sur- 
veying, mining, crystallography, mineralogy, petrography, paleontology, and struct- 
ural, physical, economic and field geology. 

The laboratories, shops, and mill are well equipped for giving instruction in the 
subjects named, and every advantage practicable is taken of the location and equip- 
ment of the school to make the instruction practical, and enable the student to 
learn that which he can use in his subsequent work. On account of this, the 
Mining School is conducted strictly as a professional school, the same as are the 
theological, law and medical schools of the country, and no encouragement is given 
to any student to enter or remain in it who is not thoroughly in earnest to master 
the studies relating to his chosen profession. 

Its course of instruction comprises three or four years, at the option of the 
pupil. 

The three years course embraces most of the subjects required in the ordinary 
work of the mining engineer, and on its completion the degree of bachelor of sci- 
ence (B. S.) is given. For those who desire it an additional year is taken, making 
the four years course, which comprises many of the advanced and higher subjects 
of the mining engineer's profession. 

The course of study requires from the pupil from six to seven hours a day, five 
days a week, in the class room, laboratory, mill or mine, and all preparation for 
his daily work has to be done outside of these hours, hence a student needs to 
give nearly all of his available time to his work if he expects to do well. The 
course in its first and third years occupies forty-five weeks of the year, and in the 
second and fourth years forty-four weeks of the year; but in the fourth year six 
of the weeks are devoted to the preparation of a thesis, which is required before 
the student can receive the degree of mining engineer. 

The Michigan Mining School has advanced more rapidly than any other State 
or independent school of mining engineering in the United States, having for some 
three years more students in mining engineering than any other school in the 
country. During the past year ninety-two pupils have been enrolled from twenty 
different states and foreign countries. 

The demand for its graduates has been good and in advance of the supply, and 
every effort practical has been made to give the kind of an education that the 
modern mining engineer needs at the present time. 

The Mining School is under the direction of a board of control consisting of six 



Educational. 



145 




146 Michigan and its Kesources. 

membere appointed for a term of six years, the terms of two members expiring 
every second year. The present board is constituted as follows: 

Hon. John Monroe Longyear, Marquette June 9, 1895. 

Alfred Kidder, Marquette June 9, 1895. 

James Renrick Cooper, Hancock ___ June 9, 1897. 

Preston Capenter Firth West, Calumet June 9, 1897. 

Hon. Jay Abel Hubbell, Houghton June 9, 1899. 

Hon. Thomas Bree Dunstan, Hancock June 9, 1899. 

OFFICERS OF THE BOARD OF CONTROL. 

President of the Board of Control — Hon. Jay Abel Hubbell. 

Secretary of the Board of Control — Allen Forsyth Rees. 

Director of the Mining School — Marshman Edward Wadsworth. 

Treasurer and, Purchasing Agent of the Mining School — Allen Forsyth Rees. 

During its first year the school was under the direction of Albert Williams, Jr., 
and since then under that of M. E. Wadsworth. 

The main building now occupied by the Mining School was completed by the 
State in 1889, at a cost of $75,000. The building is constructed of Portage entry 
sandstone, with a tile roof. It is heated and ventilated by steam, having two 
large boilers for heating and an extra boiler for driving machinery. 

The main building is one hundred and nine feet by fifty-three feet, with a 
wing thirty-seven feet by twenty-five feet. A well appointed stamp mill and ore 
dressing works, a small metallurgical building, etc., complete the structures belong- 
ing to the Mining School. 

A new building for the accommodation of the mechanical, electrical and mining 
engineering, and drawing and surveying will be erected in 1893-1891, and the inter- 
ior of the main building remodeled to meet the increasing needs of the school 
developed by its rapid increase in numbers. 

The library has been especially selected for the technical and other needs of the 
school and numbers some nine thousand volumes, while the reading room contains 
all the important and technical periodicals that bear on the subjects taught in the 
school. 

The physical laboratory is well equipped with the special apparatus needed in 
the student's practical work, like galvanometers of various kinds, calorimeters, 
resistance boxes, spectragonimeters, spherometers, balances, bridges, sextants, sonom- 
eters, polariscopes, electric motors, photometers, etc., etc. 

In chemistry there are two laboratories, one for general chemistry and qual- 
itative analysis, and the other for quantitative analysis. These laboratories are well 
equipped with gas and water supplies, with filter pumps for each student, as well 
as with all the needed modern apparatus for chemical work, including thirteen 
analytical balances, spectroscopes, Hempel's and Bunsen's apparatus, etc. 

The assay laboratory is fitted with ten large crucible furnaces, eighteen Brown's 
muffle furnaces, sixteen Hoskin's gasoline crucible and muffle furnaces; Blake's and 
Gates' crushers, large buck plates, large and small mortars, sieves, etc., as well as 
six pulp scales and five button balances. The mill and ore dressing works are wey 
equipped with one 650-pound three-stamp battery, for wet or dry crushing, furnished 
with copper plates, one Blake crusher, one sample grinder, one pair of rolls, one 



Educational. 147 



amalgamating pan, one settler, two jigs, one Calumet separator, one spitzkasten, 
one Frue vanner, apron tables, screens, precipitating tanks, and settling tanks, suffi- 
cient to enable the student to check all his results by assay. 

For metallurgical purposes, there has been erected a 7x10 reverberatory roasting 
furnace, which will enable the students to treat their concentrates and refractory 
ores. 

The mechanical laboratories are well equipped witft apparatus for the scheduled 
work. Among the instruments on hand are one Crosby and one Tabor indicator, 
with full complement of springs. Heath stop-watch, two polar planimeters, Ash- 
croft revolution counter, Schaeffer and Budenberg tachometer, lazy tongs and 
other reducing gears, Ashcroft pyrometer, set of Green's standard thermometers, 
Haisler and Barrus clorimeters, water meters, Ashcroft boiler test pump, steam 
gauge testing machine, etc. There are also on hand a number of cut models of 
injectors, etc., for illustrating lectures. 

The mechanical laboratories are further provided with a 100,000-pound machine 
fitted for tests in tension, compression, cross breaking and shearing, a Thurston 
autographic tension machine, an Olsen 2,000-pound cement tester, and an Ashcroft 
oil testing machine. There are also on hand a Henning electric contact microm- 
eter, for measurement of extension, an eleetric micrometer for compression tests, 
a B. and S. vernier caliper, and several micrometer calipers, a 24-inch by 16-foot 
New Haven Tool Company's engine lathe, Prentice screw-cutting lathe, two hand 
lathes, a 34-inch automatic feed Blaisdell drill press, a 20-inch Lodge & Davis drill 
press, a 16-inch Gould and Eberhardt chaper, a Whitcomb planer of capacity 
8x2x2 feet, a Brainard No. 4 Universal milling machine, one wet and two dry 
emery grinders, and several smaller machine tools. The assortment of chuncks, 
taps, drills, reamers, and general tools is very complete. For practice in pipe 
fitting a separate bench has been provided, and a complete set of pipe tools and 
fittings up to two inches inclusive is in stock. The pattern shop contains two 
Clement wood lathes, a 33-inch Fay hand saw. Beach jig saw, emery wheels and 
grmdstones, Pedrick & Ayer gouge grinders, a very complete assortment of hand 
tools and appliances, a 9x9 inch New York safety vertical high speed engine, an 
8x12 Buckeye automatic engine, a 12k Edison dynamo, a 2HP. Sprague motor, sev- 
eral Ayrton & Perry ammeters and voltameters, Beyman ammeters, storage 
cells, etc. 

The Mining School has a complete outfit for its work in plane, railroad and 
mining surveying, including one plane table, from Buff & Berger; nine transits, 
three from Buff & Berger, three from Heller & Brightly, two from Gurley; five 
Burt Solar compasses; five magnetic compasses; fifteen Locke hand levels. In 
addition to these more expensive instruments, the school owns the necessary num- 
ber of mining lamps, chains, steel tapes, poles, rods, etc. 

Two of the transits are provided with three tripod outfits for mine surveying, 
and all the transits are adapted to mine as well as surface work. 

The laboratories for crystallography, mineralogy, petrography and geology are 
well equipped and prepared for both elementary and advanced students. Amongst 
other material these laboratories have the following: 

Crystals and crystal models 4,104 

Mineral specimens.. 27,310 

Rock specimens 11,575 



148 Michigan and its Kesources. 

Also thirty-eight petrographical microscopes with accessories, spectroscopes, goni- 
■ometers, polariscopes, etc. 

The Michigan Mining School is located at Houghton, the county seat of Hough- 
ton county, a county which stands third in valuation in the State. Houghton is 
easily reached by rail from Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Chicago, Milwaukee, 
St. Paul, Superior and Duluth, and by steamer from all the important ports on the 
chain of the great lakes. 

In the immediate vicinity of the Mining School are located the Quincy, Atlantic, 
Franklin and Huron copper mines, while within a distance of fifteen miles are sit- 
uated the Calumet and Hecla, Tamarack, Osceola and other copper mines, with 
their machine shops, smelting works, rolling and stamp mills, etc. In the iron 
mining regions lie numerous great iron mines, prominent among which are the 
Cleveland, Jackson. Lake Superior, Lake Angeline, Champion, Republic, Chapin, 
Vulcan, Cyclops, Colby and Norrie. 

From this location the student of the Michigan Mining School is placed in a 
mining atmosphere, in which all his surroundings and associations are in con- 
formity with his present and future work. He is thus enabled to see in actual 
operation some of the most successful and extensive mining operations now con- 
ducted anywhere. 

No fees of any kind are charged, the school being absolutely free to all persons 
from whatsoever state or country they may come. 

Catalogs containing full particulars concerning the requirements for admission, 
course of study, etc., can be obtained by an application by mail or in person to 
the director at Houghton. 



MICHIGAN STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

BY DANIEL PUTNAM, YPSILANTI, MICHIGAN. 

This institution is located in the city of Ypsilanti. It was opened and its first 
building was dedicated on October 5, 1852, being the first normal school estab- 
lished west of New York. It is under the control of the State Board of Edu- 
cation, and its sole purpose is to prepare teachers for all grades of the public 
schools of the State. 

Its buildings are ample and are well adapted to the work of the school. Its 
general assembly hall affords seating for nearly a thousand persons; the chem- 
ical, physical and biological laboratories are excellent, and are supplied with 
the best of apparatus. It has a carefully selected general library of thirteen 
thousand volumes, and a reading room supplied with all the leading literary and 
educational magazines of this country, and a considerable number of foreign edu- 
cational periodicals. In addition to the general library there are departmental 
libraries selected for special use in teaching the various branches. 

The training department, embracing a kindergarten and all the grades of the 
primary and grammar departments of a regular public school, affords students an 
opportunity to observe model teaching, and also to apply in practice, under care- 



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Educational. 149* 



ful supervision and criticism, the principles and methods in which they receive- 
instruction. 

Connected with the normal school, though not organically a part of it, is a con- 
servatory of music which affords most excellent facilities for the study of that 
important branch of a teacher's education. Vocal music and voice culture ai'e 
regular studies in the normal courses. 

Several courses of studies are provided to meet the wants of the various grades 
of schools. Courses of one and two years are provided for graduates of approved 
high schools; and it is the policy of the school to encourage those who enter to 
complete as much as possible of the academic work before entering. A purely 
professional course of twenty weeks is offered to graduates of colleges. This 
course leads to a life certificate and to the degree of bachelor of pedagogics. 
Students completing a regular three years course receive a legal certificate enti- 
tling them to teach in the schools of the State for a period of five years; graduates 
from a four years course receive life certificates. An advanced course is provided 
which gives the graduate from it the degree of bachelor of pedagogics. 

The faculty, including professors, assistants and instructors, numbers thirty- 
seven, and will probably be increased during the next year. It is the purpose of 
the board to secure first-class instruction in all departments. 

The demand for graduates of the normal in the schools of the State is beyond 
the capacity of the school to supply and is constantly increasing. 

The school year is divided into two terms of twenty weeks each, the first 
term beginning early in September, the second early in February. 

No tuition fee is charged; but students not holding appointments from a mem- 
ber of the Legislature pay an incidental admission fee of five dollars each term. 
Members of the Legislature are authorized to appoint two students from their 
own districts. Such students pay no fee. 

The living expenses of students are very moderate. Furnished rooms can be 
had for 75 cents to $1.25 per week. Board in "clubs" costs about $2 per 
week. Board, with furnished room, in private families can be obtained at rates 
varying from $3 to 14 per week. 



MICHIGAN SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND 

was established at Lansing in 1879. It had formerly been connected with the deaf 
and dumb institution. The number of students in 1892 was 85, number of 
instructors 9. It is under the management of the special board of control. No 
one possessing fully developed feelings of humanity can visit this institution with- 
out experiencing sensations of pity upon seeing so many innocent youths deprived 
of the greatest of all blessings, with the sunlight and beauties of God's universe 
eternally shut out, groping their way in physical darkness through life in 
presence of the fact that it is a question with many whether life is worth living. 
If there are any deep grounds for this question with ail the senses and faculties 
to enjoy life it would seem to be easily settled by the deprivation of the sense of 
sight. 

The object of this institution is to so train the intellect, through which alone 



150 Michigan and its Resources. 

the other senses would be reached, that great pleasures may be experienced by 
these unfortunates. They learn to read by the sense of touch and become excel- 
lent musicians. They are also trained to make many articles useful and orna- 
mental. With the many attainments and accomplishments acquired at the school, 
iife is relieved of the monotonies of an uneducated blind person. 



MICHIGAN SCHOOL FOR DEAF MUTES. 

This institution was established in 1854. Prior to 1879 the blind as well as deaf 
mutes were instructed in the same building, but provisions were made to separate 
them. 

The institution for the deaf mutes is located at Flint, in Genesee county. The 
total value of the property is about 450,000, which includes eighty-eight acres of 
land and excellent buildings. 

The object of the institution is to educate deaf mutes and fit them for useful 
^nd remunerative occupations, thereby rendering them independent. 

The State maintains this institution with the same liberality it extends to all its 
similar institutions and the result commends the plan. Many who would be bur- 
dens on their friends or the State are instructed and trained so skillfully that they 
become educated and competent to earn good livings. No charge is made to pupils 
in Michigan and, indeed, the State authorizes the trustees to assist the poor unfort- 
unates when needed. The institution accomplishes what it would be almost 
utterly impossible to otherwise do. The State will never forget or neglect its 
unfortunates. 



STATE PUBLIC SCHOOL. 

The State Public School is located at Coldwater, Branch county, and was estab- 
lished in 1871 and opened in 1874. It is a temporary home for dependent and ill- 
treated children, between the ages of two and twelve years. 

The object of the institution is to take care of and educate such children until 
homes can be found for them in good families. 

Since the institution was established 3,331 children have been received, most of 
whom have been provided with good homes. There are now about two hundred in 
the school. There is a farm of 130 acres connected with the institution. The 
management is vested in a board and there are six teachers and three officers. 
Two hundred and fifty children can be accommodated. Two thousand five hundred 
and ninety-one have been indentured, one hundred and fourteen have died, four 
hundred and seventeen returned to counties. 

The State maiy well be proud of an institution having for its object the care 
and training of poor, homeless, destitute waifs, snatching innocents from the 
recruiting sources of vice and crime and placing them on the road to virtue and 
usefulness. In the future our citizenship must necessarily be composed of the 
children of today. Michigan is proverbial for helping those who cannot help 
themselves. 



Educational. 151 



MICHIGAN MILITARY ACADEMY. 

The Michigan Military Academy was incorporated September 4, 1877. The aim 
of this institution is to give young men an education, both physical and mental, 
which shall develop them into the fullest and highest manhood; an education 
which shall produce, as far as possible, full and perfect men. To this end, the 
school is established upon a system that combines military instruction with the 
•ordinary courses of high schools and academies. 

The Academy is situated twenty-six miles from Detroit and four and one-half 
miles from Pontiac, with which it is connected by railroad. The grounds, compris- 
ing one hundred and twenty acres, are on the shore of Orchard lake, in one of the 
most beautiful and healthful localities in Michigan. The buildings are all new, of 
brick, and built expressly for the purpose for which they are used. There are 
already six modern buildings, well lighted and ventilated, and complete in every 
respect. Value of buildings and grounds, $300,000. 

From the location of the Academy all the benefits of country life are secured, 
•and the cadets are free from the temptations and distractions of the city. The 
Academy has every advantage to make it especially good — location, healthfulness, 
rational methods, thoroughness and progressive spirit. 

The special work of the Academy is to prepare for our best universities, and to 
give an extended course to those not intending to go to college. Courses of 
instruction are offered in the preparation for the college courses leading to the 
degrees of bachelor of arts, philosophy, science, letters, and for the courses in civil, 
mechanical, mining and electrical engineering. In chemistry, electricity, law, his- 
tory, mathematics, English, Latin, Greek, French and German, opportunity is given 
at the Academy for advanced work. 

Students in attendance, one hundred and forty. Number of graduates, one hun- 
dred and ninety-five. 

Col. E. M. Heyl, U. S. A. Inspector General, Division of Missouri, in his annual 
report for 1892 to the Inspector General at Washington, says in regard to this 
Academy: 

"The Michigan Military Academy at Orchard lake, has, by its high grade of 
scholarship and its strenuous efforts for the best success, achieved a place second 
to none in the country." — Extract from Contributions to the American Educa- 
tional History, 1892, Bureau of Education, Washington, D. C. 

This Academy still maintains its place as the leading military institution of the 
country outside of West Point, and in all its details it is the most complete and 
thorough school of the kind I have ever inspected. The State may well be proud 
of Orchard Lake Military Academy, and the young men it graduates, as they will 
be the material on which the country can rely in the event of war. 

The site is most excellent and the sanitary condition and sewerage perfect." 



152 



Michigan and its Kesoueces. 




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Educational. 153 



AKELEY INSTITUTE. 

This institute was founded by Hon. H. C. Akeley and is located at Grand 
Haven, on the banks of Lake Michigan. It was Mr. Akeley's belief that girls 
should not obtain classical education at the expense of physical strength and 
development. Three principal features are cared for: Mental advancement, physi- 
cal development and moral culture; and the regime in all departments is so inter- 
woven and blended that the results are remarkably satisfactory. 



BATTLE CREEK COLLEGE. 

Battle Creek College was founded in 1874, by the Seventh Day Adventists 
Educational Society, and was duly incorporated in the same year, according to 
the laws of the State of Michigan providing for the incorporation of institu- 
tions of learning. It is a denominational institution, designed to give young 
people a liberal education and prepare them for usefulness in the different lines 
of religious work. Its managers aim to make moral and religious influences 
prominent, and thoroughness of instruction, solidity of character and usefulness 
in life the principal objects of attainment. They hope to have a school where 
the fear of God will prevail, where His holy word will be reverenced, and where 
His worship and service will be respected; where the young will receive dis- 
cipline and instruction which will qualify them for the duties of life, and make 
them a benefit to their fellow men. Such as desire to be in harmony with 
these objects are heartily invited to attend. 

LOCATION. 

The college is situated in Battle Creek, a city of about 15,000 inhabitants and 
one of the most active and enterprising towns in the peninsular State. Being 
at the junction of the Chicago & Grand Trunk, Michigan Central, and Cincin- 
nati, Jackson & Mackinaw railroads, about half way between Detroit and Chicago, 
the city is easy of access from all parts of the country. The site of the college 
is on a fine eminence in the western part of the city, about one-half of a mile 
from the business center. 

GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS. 

The college campus consists of seven acres, about half of which is taken up 
with buildings and the lawn, and the remainder gives abundant room for out- 
of door sports. 

THE HOME LIFE. 

Past experience has demonstrated that the school can be more successfully 
carried on by having the students board and room in the college buildings, 
with the members of the faculty, thus constituting a large school family. The 

20 



154 Michigan and its Kesources. 

young people should receive a much broader training than that which comes 
merely from the study of books. It is the best time for them to form habits 
of neatness and christian courtesy, and to obtain that general culture which 
comes from daily and intimate association with educated christian teachers. 
Much care is taken to render the home life not only attractive, but efficient in 
the cultivation of those habits of life and graces of character which distinguish 
the refined christian man and woman. Teachers and students share one family 
life, with common aims and interest. The regulations are reasonable, and are 
adapted to secure trust, freedom and happiness. It is intended that every student 
shall enjoy the pleasant associations, and receive the personal care of a true 
home. All the students in the college buildings will be required to aid in part 
payment of their expenses, in the work connected with the boarding hall and 
the laundry and in the care of the grounds and buildings. This service will 
occupy one hour each day. Much valuable information and discipline are thus 
secured to the student. Sharing the daily duties, and bearing mutual responsi- 
bilities for the common good, have proved to be of great educational value in 
establishing health and developing character. The influence of this service, 
rendered heartily, is invaluable in producing, during the years of mental train- 
ing, habits of accuracy, self-reliance, unselfishness and genuine sympathy with all 
workers. 

After several years of experience with the present plan of the home life, the 
managers of the college are convinced of its great value as an aid in the proper 
development of christian character and they earnestly recommend that all parents 
residing out of the city, who send their sons and daughters to the college, make 
provision for them to live at the school home. 

Parents are assured that those who are sent here to work for their board are 

» by that arrangement deprived in a large degree of the special privileges and 

benefits which they might otherwise enjoy. In such cases the faculty cannot 

be expected to take that responsibility for the general welfare of the student 

which they are willing to assume in the hom^ 

MUSEUM. 

In addition to many curious and interesting articles donated by friends of the 
college in different parts of the world, the museum contains a set of Ward's casts 
of fossils, and quite a complete line of specimens illustrating mineralogy and geol- 
ogy. The college desires to acknowledge its obligations to those who have contrib- 
uted to the museum in the past and to request a continuance of their favors. A 
brief sketch of any article forwarded will add to its interest and value. 

LIBRAEY. 

The library consists at present of about 2,000 volumes and new books are con- 
stantly being added to its list. The student finds this medium of information val- 
uable for research in the different branches of study. In connection with the 
library is a reading room, supplied with secular and religous papers and magazines 
for the use of the students. 



Educational. 155 



DISCIPLINE. 

Battle Creek College aims to develop character of the highest type as well as 
scholarship of the best quality, and its discipline has respect to these ends. Every 
effort is given toward making the student self-reliant, self-controlled men and 
women. But it is not a reform school and its patrons should not send to this 
institution young people too incorrigible to be governed at home. If any of this 
class gain admittance they may expect to be summarily dismissed as soon as their 
true character is discovered. 



HOPE COLLEGE. 

Hope College is located at Holland City, Ottawa county. The college campus 
contains about sixteen acres and is beautifully situated in the center of the city, 
adjacent to Macatawa bay, on which is located Macatawa park and Ottawa 
Beach, popular summer resorts. The location is remarkably healthy, is easy of 
access by rail and water, being on an arm of Lake Michigan and close to the 
great lake. The prevailing wind is from the west and consequently the college is, 
with breathing air fresh from the lake, always pure and healthy. 

The college buildings are eight in number and more are being built. It is an insti- 
tution of the reformed church largely under supervision of Hollanders, who are 
noted for sobriety, honesty, industry and enterprise. Catalogs furnished by college. 



ALMA COLLEGE. 

BY AUGUST F. BEUSKE, PRESIDENT. 

This is the youngest of the family of christian colleges in Michigan. It was 
founded in the year of our Lord 1886, by the synod of Michigan representing the 
Presbyterian church of the United States of America. The decision to establish 
it in Alma, Gratiot county, was reached because such an institution was most 
needed by the central and northern portions of our State. Almost all the colleges 
are in the southern and eastern parts of Michigan, leaving over one million of 
people without the advantages of the higher christian education. These people 
had almshouses, jails, asylums, penitentiaries, and now they have also a college. 
Some of the principal promoters of the enterprise were A. W. Wright, Esq., of 
Alma, who gave thirty acres of land, two substantial brick buildings at the begin- 
ning and has been a continual giver to the library and the other departments of 
college work ; Alexander Folsom, Esq., of Bay City, who gave S80.000 toward 
endowment; Thomas Merrill, Esq., of Saginaw; C. W. Wells, Esq., F. C. Stone, Esq., 
Charles Davis, Esq., all of Saginaw, and Hon. John Longyear, of Marquette. By the 



156 Michigan and its Eesources. 

munificence of these gentlemen the college was permitted to open its doors in 1887 
and start at once upon a thrifty and vigorous life. Thirty-five students registered 
on the first day. The total attendance last year was one hundred and seventy-two. 

The faculty for instruction is composed of thirteen ladies and gentlemen, all 
having enjoyed special training and having demonstrated their fitness by previous 
experience and success in teaching elsewhere. The institution has thirty acres of 
land, four brick buildings, substantial and essentially fire proof. It has an excellent 
library of 23,000 volumes and pamphlets, most of the books being obtained by 
purchase. 

Among the advantages claimed for Alma College are: 

1. Its central location, easily accessible, being at the junction of two impor- 
tant railroads; far enough from any similar institution to deliver it from unhappy 
rivalries, in a region of fertile country, high and free from malaria. 

2. To thoroughly competent teachers, to the best of facilities by way of library 
and apparatus, there are added the best opportunities for moral and religious 
training. A course of bible stories embracing the geography, biography and books 
of the bible, the contents of sacred scripture, and finishing with natural theol- 
ogy and the evidences of Christianity. This, it is believed, must stimulate the 
religious energies and build up chai'acter as is not possible in institutions under 
the control of the State. 

3. The members of the faculty are in daily and familiar association with the 
students so that the personal wants of each student are recognized and pro- 
vided for. 

The following are the courses of study: 1. The classical. 2. Scientific. 3. Philo- 
sophical. 4. The literary. 5. Training department for kindergarten teachers. 
6. The commercial for those wishing a business education. 7. The musical 
deparment. 8. The art department. 9. The college preparatory. 10. The aca- 
demic for those desiring a short course of two or three vears. 



CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND CHARITIES IN THE DIOCESE OF GRAND 

RAPIDS, MICHIGAN. 

The diocese of Grand Rapids, Michigan, lies in the lower peninsula of Mich- 
igan and north of the sovithern boundaries of Ottawa, Kent, Montcalm, Gratiot 
and Saginaw counties. 

Every parish in the cities and towns has a school attended by nearly all the 
Catholic children who are of the school age. The total number of school houses 
is forty-two. The attendance at these during the year 1892 was a little over ten 
thousand, taught by one hundred and eighty teachers, all of whom, except 
eighteen, are members of religious orders. In the upper classes of several schools 
in the cities the course of studies is the same as that of the high schools. 

Grand Rapids and Saginaw have each six school houses; Bay City, four; Mus- 
kegon, Manistee and Alpena, three; West Bay City and Au Sable, two; Big 
Rapids, Ludington. Traverse City, Provement, Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Cross 



Educational. 157 



Village, Cheboygan, Essexville, Mount Pleasant, Mai^le Grove, Alpine and Wright 
are each supplied with one school. The value of the buildings ranges from one 
thousand dollars tb twenty thousand. 

Grand Rapids has a home for the aged pooi-, with nearly one hundred inmates, 
in charge of the Little Sisters of the Poor. Less than one-half of the projected 
building, three stories with a basement, has been erected. 

The Sisters of Mercy conduct two hospitals, the one in Big Rapids, the other 
in Manistee. The patients in both are mostly from the lumber camps. Mr. John 
Cantield, of Manistee, donated the magnificent hospital in the city of his residence 
to the Sisters of Mercy. 

The Sisters of Charity have a hospital in Saginaw. The old hospital is a frame 
building, the new, of which one wing is complete, will be of brick and cost not 
less than one hundred thousand dollars. 

St. John's Orphan Asylum, in Grand Rapids, is in charge of the Sisters of 
St. Dominic. It is the gift of the late John Clancy. Only one wing is built, 
housing about ninety-five children. In St. Vincent's Orphan Home, in Saginaw, 
the Sisters of Charity care for fully ninety. 



HILLSDALE COLLEGE. 

Hillsdale College is situated in Hillsdale, on the Lake Shore railroad. It was 
founded in 1855, to furnish an opportunity for a liberal education to all persons, 
"irrespective of nationality, color or sex." It has a classical, scientific, normal, 
theological, music, art and commercial department, with a well selected library, 
biological and chemical laboratories, and a well equipped gymnasium. Its liter- 
ary societies are among the prominent features of the college. Since its organ- 
ization there have been over ten thousand different students in attendance in 
its various departments, of whom over six hundred have been graduated from its 
regular courses. It exists under the auspices of the Free Baptists, but it is not 
sectarian. It has an endowment fund of about §210,000, and a set of fine brick 
buildings well adapted to college uses. Its president is Hon. George F. Mosher 
LL. D. 



DETROIT COLLEGE. 

BY C. COPPENS, S. J., VICE PEESIDENT. 

This college was founded in 1877, by the fathers of the Society of Jesus, at the 
invitation and with the aid of the Rt. Rev. Bishop C. Borgess, of Detroit. It 
was incorporated April 27, 1881, according to the general law of the State of 
Michigan, with power to grant the usual literary honors and degrees. 



158 Michigan and its Resources. 

It embraces a classical, a scientific and a commercial course. Its president, the 
Rev. M. P. Dowling, is assisted by sixteen professors and instructors. Its students 
during the last scholastic year numbered 310, those entered upon the college reg- 
ister from the date of its foundation to the present, number 1,340. The value of 
its grounds, buildings, library, apparatus, etc., is $160,000; its liabilities are §60,000. 
The institution has never received any aid from the State or city, but to erect 
this beautiful structure, built three years ago, kind patrons among the Catholics 
of Detroit contributed about $50,000. The tuition paid by each student is put 
down at forty dollars yearly; as a matter of fact the income from that source 
was last year $9,520. 

The college has no other resources. But then there are only four instructors 
to draw salaries. The president and all the remaining members of the faculty, 
being Jesuits, devote their whole time and labor to the welfare of the students 
without any other remuneration than their mere support, and as they all live in 
the college buildings and lead a community life, by means of tuition f»es and 
occasional perquistes they are enabled to pay the current expenses, meet the inter- 
est on the large debt and add every year some improvements for the benefit of 
the students. 

There are no boarders at the college except the faculty. There is no female 
department. The graduates so far count sixty-eight. The library counts 8,100 vol- 
umes and about 250 are added yearly. 

All the members of the faculty and nearly all the students are Catholics, 
although others are admitted. The main purpose of the school is the thorough 
education of its pupils in scholarly attainments, strict moral and religious princi- 
ples and habits of correct conduct. 



ADRIAN COLLEGE. 

This institution is delightfully located in the western suburbs of the city of 
Adrian. The buildings are among the best college buildings in the State. They 
are four in number and built of brick, heated with steam, are large, well planned 
and contain well furnished, roomy dormitories. The grounds include twenty acres. 
The grounds, buildings, museum, libraries, apparatus, musical instruments, furni- 
ture and endowment are valued at $300,000. 

It is controlled by a board of thirty trustees, twenty-four of whom are elected 
by the Methodist Protestant church and six by the alumni association of the 
college. 

There are four four-year courses and a preparatory department with three-year 
courses. The degrees conferred are Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bach- 
elor of Philosophy and Bachelor of Letters; also Masters' and Doctors' degrees. 

There is a school of theology with complete course leading to the degree of 
Bachelor of Divinity. 

There is a school of music, with instrviction in instrumental music, vocal music 
and musical composition. Degree, Bachelor of Music. 



Educational. 159 



There is a normal department for the benefit of teachers in the public schools. 
The course of instruction extends through two years, Certificates of completion 
are given. Instruction is also given in painting and drawing. 

The number of instructors is twelve; average number of students, 175. 

J. F. McCulloch, B. Ph., A. M., is president, and Geo. B. McElroy, D. D.. Ph. 
D., is dean of the school of theology. 



ALBION COLLEGE. 

Albion College was projected in 183.3 as a seminary or academy by Rev. Henry 
Colclazer, Rev. Elijah H. Pilcher, and Benjamin H. Packard, M. D., who were res- 
idents of the territory of Michigan. The measure was endorsed by the Ohio 
conference of the Methodist Episcopal church then having ecclesiastical jurisdic- 
tion in the State; and in 1835 an act was passed chartering the institution 
under the name of Spring Arbor Seminary, and locating the same at Spring Arbor 
in Jackson county. In 1839 the charter was amended, the corporate name changed 
to Wesleyan Seminary, and the same removed to Albion in Calhoun county. 

The first building was erected in 1843, and the Seminary was opened for recep- 
tion of students in November of that year under the supervision of Rev. Charles 
F. Stockwell as principal. In 1849 the powers of the institution were enlarged by 
the conversion of the seminary into a female college, with authority to grant 
degrees to women. In 1861 general college powers were granted by the legislature 
under the corporate name of Albion College. 

The institution occupies a campus of about fifteen acres just east of the busi- 
ness portion of the city of Albion. On these grounds there are now standing six 
buildings — three of these used for general college purposes, and containing, aside 
from class and lecture rooms, the chapel, the library, museum, chemical laboratory, 
biological laboratory, conservatory of music, studio of the school of painting and 
society rooms. The fourth building in the order of erection is the astronomical 
observatory, fully equipped and next in size in the State to the observatory at 
Ann Arbor. A gymnasium, seventy by ninety-three feet, was erected in 1892. At 
the extreme eastern point of the campus stands the Sigma Chi hall, built by the 
chapter three years ago. 

The McMillan chemical laboratory, the gift of Hon. James McMillan, senator in 
congress, costing §25,000, aside from plumbing and special fittings, is in process of 
erection, the same to be finished as early as September 15, 1893. 

Hon Aaron T. Bliss, of Saginaw, ex-member of congress, is erecting a §50,000 
library building, the same to contain a war memorial hall. 

PEOPERTY AND ENDOWMENTS. 

Buildings, grounds and appliances §200,000 

Endowments 400,000 

Endowment of library 30,000 

Library — bound volumes 9,000 

" unbound volumes 2,500 

Museum — specimens in mineralogy, conchology, natural hist., etc. 10,000 



160 Michigan and its Eesoueces, 

Four new chairs, just endowed, three of them to be filled in 1895 when the 
funds become due. 

Board of instructors consists of 28; students in attendance, 625. 

The president is Rev. Lewis R. Fiske, D. D., LL. D. 

The following are the names of the principals and presidents from the opening 
of the institution: 

Rev. Charles F. Stockwell, A. M. 

Rev. Clark T. Hinman, D. D. 

Hon. Ira Mayhew, LL. D. 

Rev. Thomas H. Sinex, D. D., during whose incumbency the school became a 
college of liberal arts. 

Rev. George B. Joslyn, D. D. 

Rev. J. L. G. McKeown, D. D. 

Rev. William B. Silber. Ph. D. 

Rev. Lewis R. Fiske, D. D., LL. D. 



yfK 





PENAL AND CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 



BY L. C. STOEES, SECEETAEY STATE BOAED OF CHAEITIES AND COEEECTIONS. 



PRISONS. 



Michigan has three penal institutions. One at Jackson, one at Ionia and one 
at Marquette, in which for the fiscal ending June .30, 1892 there were confined 
an average 1,188 prisoners. The city of Detroit has a house of correction, in 
which during a like period the average was 708 prisoners, a total during 1891-2 
of 1,890 prisoners. 

The prison property of the State is estimated at §1,534,416.98, and there was 
expended in operating them during 1890-2, $214,037.10. 

The prisoners are provided with chapels and school rooms, and with chaplain 
and teachers. 

An industrial home for discharged prisoners is in active operation, situated 
in Detroit. This is not a State institution, but was founded and is now directed 
by Mrs. Agnes L. d'Arcambal. 

The home is incorporated by the State, controlled by a board of trustees and 
supported largely by the avails of the products of its industries. 



REFORMATORIES. 

Michigan has two, the Industrial School for Boys at Lansing, and the Indus- 
trial Home for Girls at Adrian. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, there 
were confined in these two institutions an average of 709 children. The State 
has invested in them 8428,246.05 and the expense of operating them in 1891-2 
was 898,500.00. The system of parol is in operation and large numbers from 
these schools have found homes with good families throughout the State and 
are doing well. 
21 



162 Michigan and its Resources. 



DEPENDENT AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN. 

Michigan maintains a school and temporary home for such at Coldwater 
called the State Public School. During the eighteen years of its existence 3,261 
children have been received into such institution. June 30, 1892, there were 
in the school and out on trial (but still belonging) 283 children; out under 
indenture (but under the control of the school), 1,069; of the total number 
received, only 402 were returned to the counties from which received (unfit 
under the law to remain); the balance had been adopted, married, become self- 
supporting, etc. The State has invested in this school $227,816.22. The cur- 
rent expenses for 1891-2 were $33,570.75. 



COUNTY AGENCY SYSTEM. 

An agent is appointed in each county in Michigan by the Governor. His 
duties are, in a general way to examine and report on the home of each appli- 
cant for children from the industrial school, and from the school for dependent 
children. To supervise such children after being placed in homes. To examine 
the case of each and every child under sixteen years of age who has been arrested 
and to counsel with, and recommend to the court, what disposition shall be 
made of a child so arrested. These agents report for the fiscal year ending June 
30, 1892, 812 children arrested, of whom 230 were committed to reformatories 
and 396 were placed in homes; 590 visits were made to children placed in homes. 



THE BLIND, THE DEAF AND DUMB. 

Michigan has an institution for each of these two classes of defections. There 
was an average attendance during 1892 at the School for the Blind of seventy-four 
pupils. The State has invested in these two institutions $715,619,34. The opera- 
ting expenses were $75,357.89. 



INSANE. 



Three State asylums exist in the State, besides an asylum for the Dangerous and 
Criminal Insane. There were under treatment at the three, during the year 1892, 
2,914 patients. There are the two private asylums in Michigan, in which there 
were 191 patients, and one county asylum (Wayne), in which there were 245 



164 Michigan and its Kesoueces. 



ASYLUMS FOR THE INSANE. 

The Slate is provided with four institutions and an act passed the legislature 
in 1893 establishing the fifth in the upper peninsula. Michigan asylum for the 
insane, the oldest, is located at Kalamazoo and was established by an act passed 
in 18i8. It cost 8572,000, and was opened in 1859. 

The disbursements for two years ending January 3, was 8422,470, a consider- 
able portion of which was paid by individuals and counties. 

The number of patients, males, 520; females, 527; medical attendants, 6; 
employes, 198. 

Eastern Michigan Asylum is located at Pontiac, Oakland county. It was opened 
in 1878 and cost $467,000. 

Number of patients under treatment in 1892 was, males, 449; females, 444; 
medical attendants, 5; employes, 163. 

Noi-thern Michigan Asylum, established in 1881, is located at Traverse City, 
Grand Traverse county, and cost 8522,430. 

Michigan Asylumn for Dangerous and Criminal Insane was established in 1883, 
and is located at Ionia, in connection with the reformatory. It cost 831,750. 
Number of patients in 1892, 164; number of employes, 31. 

The legislature of 1893 made appropriations for an asylum for the insane in the upper 
peninsula. Each institution of this kind is managed by a special board of trustees 
appointed by the Governor, and is managed in the best possible manner. 




Michigan Asylum for the Insane, Kalamazoo. 




Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane, Traverse City 



TOTAL VALUE OF PROPERTY IN STATE INSTITUTIONS 

EXCEPT CAPITOL. 



, , $1,300,617 18 

University of Michigan, Adu Arbor ^^^.^^^ ^^ 

Agricultural College, Lansing 234479 H 

State Normal School, Ypsilanti 150000 00 

Michigan Mining School, Houghton ^^^'^^^^ ^^ 

Soldiers' Home, Grand Rapids. .- 950507 60 

Michigan Asylum, Kalamazoo 793'245 30 

Eastern Asylum, Pontiac 650 621 18 

Northern Asylum, Traverse City -— ioo't^H ^H 

Michigan Asylum for Dangerous and Criminal Insane. loma 138,^36 5S 

State House of Correction, Marquette iic'sO'^ 0'> 

State House of Correction and Reformatory, Ionia ^^^-^^^ ^^ 

State Prison, Jackson 172768 18 

Industrial Home for Girls, Adrian 955477 87 

Industrial School for Boys, Lansing o-j^'qiq 92 

Michigan State Public School, Coldwater -^-^^^ J^ 

Michigan School for Deaf and Dumb, Flint ^^^^^^ ^^ 

Michigan School for Blind, Lansing _j:^\ 

$7,777,212 06 



STATE INDEBTEDNESS AND TAXATION. 



BY E. J. WRIGHT, TAX DEPARTMENT, AUDITOR GENERAL S OFFICE. 



Michigan is practically free from debt, the entire amount of outstanding State 
bonds being $10,992.83, on which interest ceased long since. By the conditions of 
the grant of certain lands to the State by the United States the proceeds of the 
sale of the lands so granted are held by the State as a perpetual trust for the 
benefit of its grand system of public schools, the State assuming the obligation to 
pay the interest thereon annually for the support of the schools. The moneys to 
the credit of the several funds at the commencement of the present fiscal year 
were: Primary school fund, $4,466,090.06; University fund, $522,211.93; Agricultural 
College fund, $401,414.63; Normal School fund, $64,622.62. The equalized valuation of 
the State ten years ago was $810,000,000; the last equalization made it $1,1.30.000,000. 
An average tax of but a small fraction over one and one-half mills per annum has 
sufficed to amply sustain the State government, the asylums, reformatory and penal 
institutions, to pay the State's obligations to its educational institutions, and to 
liberally provide for every demand upon the State's resources. 

The census of 1890 gives the combined State, county, municipal, and school dis- 
trict indebtedness of the State as $8.09 per capita, divided as follows: State, com- 
bining the trust funds as a debt of the State and including $31,992.83 of the State 
bonds then outstanding, $5,308,294; county, $1,257,698; municipal, $8,510,439; school 
district, $1,865,497. The nominal debt was $2.54 per capita, or in reality the entire 
liability of each citizen to the State, in addition to his share of the current require- 
ments, being to pay annually 7 per cent on $2.54, 

Local taxation is proportionately light, the economy of government being such 
that the requirements of the counties, townships and school districts, are far from 
burdensome. Even in the cities and villages where municipal luxuries are some- 
times liberally indulged in, taxation is rarely excessive. 

Railroad and express companies, insurance companies (exclusive of mutual benefit 
associations and farmers' mutual fire insurance companies), and some other corpora- 
tions, pay tribute to the State by specific taxes, licenses and incorporation fees, etc. 



State Indebtedness and Taxation. 167 



The tax on liquor dealers is a considerable amount. While these taxes are by no 
means restrictive, they materially reduce the amount required to be raised by gen- 
eral taxation. The last legislature enacted a law providing for a graduated tax 
upon inheritances the effect of which cannot be determined yet. 

All property real and personal, within the jurisdiction of the State, is subject to 
taxation, unless expressly exempted by law, and assessors are required to assess all 
property at its cash value. Real property belonging to the United States, to the 
State, or to counties, townships, cities, villages, or school districts, and used for 
public purposes, is exempted. Real and personal property owned and occupied by 
library, benevolent, charitable, educational and scientific institutions, incorporated 
under the laws of the State, is exempted while occupied solely for the purposes 
for which such institutions were incorporated. Houses of public worship, with the 
land on which they stand, the furniture therein, and all right in the pews, and 
parsonages owned by religious societies, and occupied as such; all lands used as 
burial grounds, and the tombs and monuments therein; the real properly of corpo- 
rations paying specific taxes (except that railroad properties are liable to assess- 
ment for local improvements in cities and villages, and all railroad lands not 
adjoining the tracks of the company, are subject to all taxes); property owned 
exclusively by State, county, or district agricultural societies, and used exclusively 
for fair purposes; the real and personal property of persons who in the opinion of 
the supervisor and board of review, by reason of poverty are unable to contribute 
toward the public charges; lands dedicated to the public and used us public parks, 
and monument grounds or armories belonging to military organizations, and not 
used for gain, complete the list of exemptions of real property. The other exemp- 
tions of personal property are: So much of the credits due, or to become due, as 
shall equal the amount of bona fide and unconditional debts of the person owning 
household furniture, provisions and fuel, to the value of five hundred dollars to 
each household, the library, family pictures, school books, one sewing machine, 
used and owned by each individual or family, and the wearing apparel of every 
individual, farm implements and machinery or personal property of any farmer 
to the amount of $200, the working tools of any mechanic not to exceed in value 
§100; all mules, and horses and cattle, not over one year old, all sheep and swine 
not over six months old, and all domesticated birds; pensions receivable from the 
United States, the personal property of library associations, circulating libraries, 
libraries of reference, and reading rooms owned or supported by the public and 
not used for gain, and all posts of the G. A. R., tents of the S. O. V., of the W. R. C, 
the Y. M. C. A., the W. C. T. U., Y, P. C. U., and similar associations; the property of 
Indians not citizens, and all fire engines or other implements for extinguishing 
fires, when owned or used by any organized or independent fire company. Personal 
property is assessed where found in April, and the assessment roll is made by the 
supervisor or assessor in May. All persons may be required to furnish sworn state- 
ments of their property. The assessment is open to inspection, and is subject to revision 
and correction by the board of review as may appear equitable and proper. At their 
annual session the board of supervisors of each county equalizes the value of real 
property in the several assessment districts and determines the amount to be raised 
by taxes for current purposes. Taxes assessed become a debt to the township 
and a lien upon the property assessed on December 1, and the township treasurer 
or village collector is required to collect and pay over the taxes before March 1 



168 Michigan and its Eesoueces. 

following. A collection fee of four per cent is added to taxes unpaid after December 
and interest at eight per cent after March 1. No personal property is exempt 
from seizure and sale to satisfy unpaid taxes. Unpaid taxes on real property 
are returned to the county treasurer and by him to the Auditor General, and if 
not paid to the Auditor General or the county treasurer within one year after 
return the lands are subject to sale for taxes and charges, including seventy cents 
for the expense of advertising and sale of each description. The Auditor General 
files with the circuit court of each county a petition for decree, and the delinquent 
taxpayer is notified of his day in court by publication. A decree having been 
obtained, sale is made on the first Monday in December at the county treasurer's 
office. After sale one year is allowed for redemption, after which a deed is issued to 
the purchaser on demand, unless bid in to the State, in which event the- land is 
subject to sale by the Auditor General as State tax land, a deed being issued to 
the purchaser. All State tax lands unsold are offered at the annual sales of 
delinquent tax lands. 

Lands subject to sale for taxes are sold for the taxes, charges, and accrued interest, 
and the pvirchaser may be put in possession by writ of assistance issued out of 
the circuit court. 

All conveyances of land, except those executed by law, must be accompanied 
by certificates from the Auditor General or county treasurer, showing that the 
taxes thereon have been paid for the five years preceding the date of the instru- 
ment when presented to the register of deeds for recording. The experience of 
the State in the State system for the collection of delinquent taxes on lands, in 
contradistinction from the county system, is that a larger proportion of taxes 
are collected by the State system, and at a much less expense than in the states 
which adhere to the county system, which has been twice tried by Michigan 
and as often abandoned because of its proven undesirability, uncertainty and lack 
of uniformity. 



MICHIGAN: ITS RESOURCES, BANKING LAW, AND 

FINANCES. 



BY HON. T. C. SHERWOOD, BANK COMMISSIONEE, MICHIGAN. 



Note.— On account of the failure of some Michigan banks, a feeling of distrust was created against the 
entire system in the minds of many citizens, which caused a great deal of needless anxiety and suspicion. 
For the benefit of persons not understanding the banking laws and financial resources of the State, we 
copy the following article by permission: 

Michigan, the beautiful Peninsular State, to be known needs but to be mentioned. 
With its two and one-half millions of inhabitants and its 58,915 square miles of 
territory, it comprises not only a wide region of abundant natural resources but 
also those industries and improvements that make her the peer of any State in the 
Union. The coal fields and beautiful farms of the southern part of the lower penin- 
sula, the forests of the northern portion, together with the copper, iron and 
forestry of the upper peninsula, combine to make Michigan rich in natural 
resources to which when added the manufacturing industry, which the enterprise, 
thrift and industry of the citizens has built up, together with her excellent system 
of free schools, all tend to give Michigan a world-wide reputation in all that adds 
to the material, industrial and intellectual wealth of the nation. 

Time will not permit me to fully discuss the resources of Michigan, and I will 
therefore call your attention to but a few inc -^tries, the development of which 
has made Michigan famous the world over. I will only refer to the copper, iron 
ore, lumber, shingles, salt and furniture industries, at this time, and hope you will 
become sufficiently interested to visit us and make a personal tour of inspection. 

For the year 1892 the output of copper in Michigan, as compiled by the Mining 
Journal, was 107,200,000 pounds of refined copper, which at twelve cents per pound, 
the average price during the year, amounts to $12,864,000.00, and yet we are not 
asking that copper be coined into pennies and made a legal tender for debts. 

The output of iron ore in 1892, according to the Iron Herald, amounted to 7,824,- 
556 tons, the average price being $4.00 per ton, making the total value $31,298,624.00. 
22 



170 Michigan and its Kesoueces. 



The total quantity of lumber manufactured in Michigan in 1892 was 3,794,256,754 
feet which at $15.00 per thousand amounts to $56,913,851 00. 

The total number of shingles make in 1892 was 2,140.647,875, the average price 
as to grades being $2.50 per thousand, makes the total value 85,351,620.00. 

The number of barrels of salt produced in Michigan in 1892 was 3,812,000, 
which at sixty cents per barrel amounts to $2,287,000; and last though not least 
comes the furniture industry, which in Michigan in increasing each year. The 
city of Grand Rapids, which today is perhaps the most noted furniture manufact- 
uring city in the United States, in 1892 manufactured furniture valued at 
$10,864,000. 

From these six industries alone (one of which is incomplete, as I have only 
given the furniture product of one city) Michigan offers to the markets of the 
world, in one year, goods amounting to over $119,500,000. 

I have not mentioned the great agricultural interest of Michigan, not because it 
is insignificant, for it is not. It far exceeds every other industry, and compares 
favorably with any other of our sister states in its production of hay, grain, wool, 
fruit and vegetables. 

I have simply mentioned those industries that have made Michigan known 
abroad and gained for her an enviable reputation among the sisterhood of states. 

Notwithstanding Michigan is rich in agricultural, timber and mineral resources, 
until a few years we have had to depend upon outside capital for the development 
of these resources, and this brings me to the second part of the subject assigned 
me, viz.: 

ITS BANKING LAW AND FINANCTES. 

Michigan in common with other states has had a varied experience in banking 
and banking laws, and has dearly paid for that experience in the losses she has 
sustained, as have other states in the union, as well as the nations of Europe. 

It seems strange that the states and nations will not be benefited by the experi- 
ence of others, but they will not. The John laws of today are just as positive 
that something can be made out of nothing as was the original John in France in 
1718. Each individual thinks his financial policy the correct one, and the reason it 
failed of success 173 years ago was because the system was in advance of the 
times, which the changes in the manner of transacting business and the increased 
intelligence of the people will now make successful. We admit that the business 
methods have changed within the past few years, and will necessarily change as 
business increases and our facilities for exchanging the products of the different 
countries multiply. We also realize that there is a marked advancement in the 
intelligence of our business men, but we must not forget that the great funda- 
mental principles of finance never change and the more intelligence we possess the 
more careful we will be to have a sound foundation for the support of the finan- 
cial system which is the life blood of the nation. 

The Michigan banking law of 1837, under which the notorious " wildcat " money 
was issued, was repealed in 1841, but it was not until 1857 that the State had a 
banking law that was at all satisfactory to the public; this law provided for banks 
of issue, in fact up to the close of the civil war the name bank carried with it 
the idea of an issue of paper currency rather than for the transacting of the bus- 



Banking Law and Finances. 171 

iness of the commercial world, and for the safe deposit of the surplus funds of our 
citizens. The passage by congress of the national banking act in 1863 and the 
law passed in 1865 imposing a tax of ten per cent on the amount of the notes 
of any State bank or banking association, effected a complete change in the 
system of banking in our State. 

Instead of being banks of issue and depending largely upon circulation for their 
profits, our banks became commercial associations or, if you please, clearing houses, 
where our business men made their exchanges, discounted their commercial paper 
and deposited their surplus money; the banks' profits being derived from loans 
made with these deposits (upon which no interest was paid) and from exchange 
bought and sold. 

The law of 1857, although reasonably satisfactory in the transaction of commer- 
cial business, even in the changed condition of business affairs, failed to provide 
for small depositors who desired to deposit their savings and receive interest 
thereon. Hence, in 1873, the law was amended providing for the incorporation of 
savings banks. But the State has outgrown the law. It was incomplete and 
defective and many of its provisions obsolete. 

The business men of the State urged upon the legislature of 1887 the necessity 
of a new banking law that would satisfy the demands of the constantly increasing 
business of the State. 

The legislature enacted such a law, which was adopted by the people at the 
general election of 1888, and became operative January 7, 1889. 

Michigan's present general banking law provides for a banking department 
charged with the execution of the law, and its chief officer is called the Commis- 
sioner of the Banking Department. 

He issues authority for the incorporation of banks, calls for at least four reports 
annually, at such times as he deems necessary, causes examinations to be made of 
each bank under his supervision, at least once in each year, and has the same 
authority over the State banks of Michigan that the Comptroller of the Currency 
at Washington has over the national banks of the United States. 

In fact our banking law is copied largely from the national bank act, with 
several additional amendments, applicable to the business necessities of our 
State. 

Michigan State banks are capitalized and the stockholders are each liable for 
an amount equal to the par value of their stock in addition to the said stock. At 
least fifty per cent of the capital must be paid in before the bank is authorized 
to commence business, and the remainder in monthly installments of at least ten 
per cent of the capital stock. 

The amount of capital required of a State bank is regulated by the size of the 
city or town where the bank is located, the smallest capital being $15,000 in towns 
whose population does not exceed 1,500. 

Michigan's banking law differs from the national bank act in that it is a dual 
law. It recognizes two classes of business — commercial and savings— both separate 
and distinct, and yet both embodied in one with separate restrictions. 

The commercial department of our State banks is especially for the accommoda- 
tion of business men. They are exclusively devoted to the collection, safe keeping 
and the employment in temporary loans the floating capital of the country. 

Every merchant, miner, manufacturer and farmer is dependent upon the com- 



172 Michigan and its Eesoueces. 

mercial bank for funds to enable them to market their products at the earliest 
moment. Hence, Michigan's law restricts the loaning of the deposits of commer- 
cial banks upon mortgage or any form of real estate security to fifty per cent of 
its capital stock, and then only upon a two-thirds vote of its directors, except to 
secure a debt previously contracted in good faith. 

This restriction is simply to prevent the tying up of capital by long time loans, 
and by so doing embarrass the commercial and manufacturing enterprises of the 
State. 

The savings department of our State banks is the depository for the surplus 
money not needed in active commercial business. 

Deposits in this department are generally made by mechanics, who have not 
the time or opportunity to make investments, and by laborers and servants, who 
have not the education or ability to engage in active business. 

They deposit their money for safe keeping and for interest under such rules and 
regulations as the board of directors of the bank prescribes. 

One of the rules governing savings deposits adopted by nearly every savings 
bank in the State, provides that the cashier may in all cases require ninety days' 
notice to him in writing, before a depositor will be entitled to withdraw his 
deposit or any part thereof. 

This rule is enforced only in case of financial excitement and has been resorted 
to with good effect by many banks in our State during the past few weeks. 

People withdraw their money from banks in times of financial excitement not 
because they doubt the 'solvency of the bank, so much as they fear that others 
will get ahead of them and secure the money the bank has on hand. When they 
find that none are allowed to draw their deposits they go away satisfied that their 
chances are as good as others, aad usually at the end of sixty days thank the 
cashier for enforcing the ninety day rule. 

Michigan's banking law recognizes the fact that banks are but the custodians of 
the people's money and therefore prescribe the amount, quality and kind of secur- 
ities that may be taken with the deposits in the two departments of our State 
banks. 

In the commercial department, as I have already said, money can not be loaned 
on real estate security except by a two-thirds vote of its directors and then not 
more than fifty per cent of its capital. 

It can not loan to one individual, company, corporation or firm more than ten 
per cent of its capital and surplus, except by a two-thirds vote of its directors, in 
which case the limit is twenty per cent. 

This limitation does not apply to loans upon real estate or other collateral secur- 
ity, or the discounting of commercial paper owned by the person negotiating the 
same, or bills of exchange drawn in good faith .^gainst actually existing values. 

Commercial banks or banks with commercial departments are required to keep 
on hand at all times at least fifteen per cent of their total deposits, except that in 
cities of over one hundred thousand population, each of such banks shall keep on 
hand twenty per cent of its deposits, one-half of which reserve shall be in lawful 
money, and the balance may be in funds, payable on demand, deposited in banks 
in cities, approved by the Commissioner as reserve cities. 

The savings department is required to keep on hand at least fifteen per cent of 
its deposits, one-third of which reserve shall be in lawful money in its own vaults, 



Banking Law and Finances. 173 

and the balance on deposit payable on demand with banks, national or State, in 
reserve cities or invested in United States bonds. 

Three-fifths of the remainder, or fifty-one per cent of the deposits, must be 
invested in bonds or in negotiable paper secured by bonds, or upon notes or bonds 
secured by mortgage lien upon unincumbered real estate, worth at least twice the 
amount loaned. 

The remainder of the deposits, or thirty-four per cent, may be invested in notes, 
bills or other evidences of debt, the payment of which is secured by the deposit 
of personal property as security, or may be deposited in banks in reserve cities, 
providing the amount does not exceed ten per cent of the total deposits, capital 
and surplus of the depositing bank, and an amount not exceeding the capital and 
additional stockholders' liability may be invested in negotiable paper approved 
by the board of directors. 

This M per cent investment of collateral and short time commercial paper, 
acts as a sort of financial safety valve. Being readily converted in money, it 
enables a bank to meet unusual demands without being compelled to dispose 
of its mortgage securities. 

At the time our banking law was being discussed in the legislature, I had 
some doubt of the wisdom of allowing banks to incorporate with savings and 
commercial departments for the transaction of both classes of business, but 
after four years of trial, I see no reason for changing, especially in small towns 
and villages where the two classes of business could not profitably be carried 
on in two separate institutions. 

Many business men now have two bank accounts, one commercial and one 
savings. The bank combining both classes of business can accommodate this class 
of persons, and there is no excuse for a bank's customer going elsewhere for 
an accommodation, unless at the request of the bank. 

The relations between a bank and its customer should be as close and private 
as between physician and patient. No man in ill health would think of con- 
sulting and taking prescriptions from three or four physicians at the same time 
unless he expected to die, and no man should have accounts at several banks, 
especially if he is a borrower, unless he expects to die a financial death and 
wants a large number of mourners at his funeral. It is a fact that no banker 
can deny, that the heaviest losses banks sustain are by those who are custom- 
ers of several banks at the same time. 

Michigan's law does not permit the issuing of any bill, note or certificate 
intended to circulate as money, neither can a bank issue post notes. 

All debts due to any State banking association on which interest is past due 
and unpaid for a period of six months, unless the same are well secured or in 
process of collection, are required to be charged off at the expiration of that 
time. 

The expenses of the banking department are paid by the State from the 
general fund, but each State bank is required to pay into the State treasury 
for the credit of the general fund, one-hundredth part of one per cent of the 
gross amount of the assets of said bank at the time the examination is made, 
provided that the examination fee of any bank shall not be less than ten 
dollars. 

Michigan's banking law does not provide for the supervision of private banks. 



174 Michigan and its Resources. 

These banks are without any supervision whatever, and so far as the public 
knows, the amount of capital invested, methods of business and investments 
made, they are what their name indicates, private. 

Our law provides the usual penalties for its violation, giving the commissioner 
power to take immediate possession of a bank for any violation of its provis- 
ions, and under the direction of the court wind up its buisnees. 

This in brief is Michigan's banking law, and in the four and one-half years 
it has been in operation, its adaptability to the varied business demands of our 
State, is amply proven by the fact that over eighty banks have incorporated 
under its provisions within that time. 

On May 4 last, the one hundred and forty-nine bank and three trust com- 
panies then incorporated, reported their assets as $84,276,584.34 at the same time 
the one hundred and three national banks reported total assets as $75,722,442.09 
making the total assets of the incorporated banks of the State $160,000,000.00 [ 

The deposits of the State banks May 4 were $65,533,057.93 and the national 
banks $41,056,961.88 make a total of more than $106,590,000.00. 

Rather than weary you I have briefly alluded to the resources of Michigan, 
and pointed out the salient points of its banking law and bank resources, and 
can only add that if you desire a closer acquaintance with us Wolverines, visit 
our State and study for yourselves our marvelous resources, our wonderful 
lakes and rivers, our health restoring summer resorts, and our beautiful scenery. 
I can assure you a hearty reception and a royal welcome. 



FISHERIES. 



HEKSCHEL Y. WHITTAKEE, OF STATE FISH COMMISSION, DETROIT. 



"Mich-sawg-ye-gan," the "Land of the Lakes" was the somewhat poetic and 
significant name given by the Ojibways to that territory lying within the pre- 
sent borders of the State of Michigan. 

From the earliest that is known of this territory it was the favorite hunting 
and fishing ground of the savages. Here nature seems to have provided every 
variety of landscape from the heavily timbered mountainous districts of the 
extreme north to those lovely natural parks called oak openings of the south- 
ern peninsula, carpeted with flowers and verdant grasses and dotted everywhere 
with magnificent oaks. Here and there, in natural basins between the gentle 
swells of the rolling prairies nestled beautiful sparkling lakes, and on their 
limpid bosoms were reflected the beauties of their surroundings, which seemed 
fittingly placed as mirrors in which nature might admire her own loveliness. 
Floating lazily over them were innumerable wild fowl, while their depths 
swarmed with the king of fresh water game fish, the black bass, the muskal- 
longe, the pike, and scores of other kinds of edible fish. 

The silver threaded brooks and streams filled each valley with their murmur- 
ings, and the Indian gliding from lake to lake and stream to stream in his 
bark canoe, had but to stretch forth his hand and partake of their bounties. 
More than five thousand of these beautiful lakes bountifully stocked with excel- 
lent fish, lie within the present limits of the State, and while the aborigine, the 
original proprietor of it all, has long since departed for his "'Happy Hunting 
Ground." the finny denizens of these waters still delight the angler and fill his 
days with pleasure. 

Bordering the two peninsulas of the State and almost surrounding them, lie the 
great fresh water seas of the northwest, the largest body of fresh water on the 
globe. Michigan with two thousand, miles of lake coast holds preeminence over 
all her sister states in the importance of her commercial fisheries. These lakes 
have an area or 97,000 square miles and a total length of about 1,500 miles with a 
varying depth of from 100 to more than 900 feet, and all of them are filled with 
the purest water. 



176 Michigan and its Eesources. 

Upon these waters the missionary, filled with religious zeal for the salvation of 
souls, launched his frail birch bark canoe. Confiding his body to the mercies of 
the savages, and commending his soul to his Maker, he set forth for the conver- 
sion of the savages. Following him came the hardy adventurer and explorer, who 
through lack of opportunity for military distinction in the armies of France in 
time of peace, sought in the wilds of America to extend the domain of his king 
and to mend his own personal fortunes, and hoped to discover a way to Far Cathay. 
The fur trader and the courrier-du-bois followed close upon his footsteps and pene- 
trated every cove and inlet of the lakes, to barter their cheap and tawdry gewgaws 
with the redskin for the valuable peltries of the beaver, mink, otter and other fur 
bearing animals. 

All these found these lakes teeming with the choicest varieties of fish. Here was 
the " attikumaig," the '" deer-of-the-water," that most excellent of fishes, the white- 
fish, the " salmo namaycush " or salmon trout whose proportions are said to have 
reached the weight of seventy pounds, the pike, perch or pickerel, the dore of the 
French, the lordly sturgeon which exceeded in size all others, often reaching a 
weight of one hundred and twenty-five pounds; the siskowet, the muskallonge, 
the white and black bass, the rock bass, pike, catfish, mullet, perch, sun fish, gar 
and other varieties abounded everywhere, and in their season the multitudes of 
herring or ciscoes exceeded belief. 

For years after the white man settled on these lakes these storehouses of food 
remained untouched save for the small demand made upon them by the scattered 
settlers for daily food, and for the small quantities which were salted for winter 
use. 

In the decade between 1830 and 1840 fishing as an industry first began to assume 
some importance and a few persons engaged in it asva business, but the product 
was largely salted and put up in packages for shipment. 

About 1850 the fishermen on the Detroit river constructed in connection with 
their fisheries where the whitefish was taken in the fall season, pens for the con- 
finement alive of whitefish until December and later, and when the glut consequent 
upon large catches had been disposed of, the penned whitefish were taken from 
the pens and shipped to distant markets. The severe weather of winter served to 
keep them in a fresh condition. The profits derived from this mode of procedure 
were large, and these advantages ultimately led to the invention of the method of 
artificially freezing of fish by which fish might be kept for an indefinite time, and 
from this was evolved the modern methods now* pursued all over the lakes of 
holding fish in freezers. This discovery gave to the fishing industry a great 
impetus and the business was suddenly revolutionized. From being prosecuted 
with small gangs or strings of nets and with sail and row boats by a few 
individuals, the fishing being confined to a few months in the year, it has now 
grown to such proportions that frequently a single fisherman controls nets extend- 
ing twenty-five, fifty and seventy miles in length, following his business with the 
use of steam craft and fishing during all seasons of the year, unless interfered 
with by the rigor of the season. 

During the season of 1891 there were fished in the waters of this State 2,692 
miles of gill nets, sufficient in length to encircle the entire State with nearly seven 
hundred miles to spare. There were 2,028 pound nets fished, having leaders meas- 
uring 316 miles, and ninety seines with a length of 8,175 fathoms. 



FiSHEEIES. 



177 



There were about twenty-five freezers with a capacity of 2,500 tons of frozen fish 
and the industry employed upwards of 4,000 men. 

The boats in use were seventy steamers, five hundred and seventy-four sail boats, 
three hundred and three pound boats and five hundred and forty-sis skiffs. 

The total amount invested in nets, boats, lands and buildings was $1,104,960.50. 

The following table shows the number of pounds and the total value of all kinds 
of fish taken in this State for the year 1891: 

Summarized report of all districts. 



Fish caught. 


Pounds. 


Value. 


Whitefish 


8,110,387 
9,132,770 

2,791,188 
7,822,900 

831,606 

95,318 

70,150 

2,017,300 

1,392,150 

159,290 

58,»U9 

1,232,810 


$.351,196 67 


Lake troat 


375,202 05 


Pike perch . . .... 


92,623 51 


Herring _ 


117,319 75 


Sturgeon . ..... 


34,188 48 


Bass 


4,472 00 


Saugers . . . . 


1.124 50 


Perch... . 


21,191 75 


Suckers 


17,132 .50 


Catfish 


3,699 55 


('aviare .. .... 


13,383 50 


All other kinds . 


26,494 15 






Total 


33,714,868 


$1,058,028 41 



The vigorous prosecution of the fisheries, without any restraint upon the meth- 
ods pursued, has resulted in a depletion of the waters, and they are threatened 
with decay and perhaps absolute extinction unless some steps are taken by the 
State to arrest it. Those interested in these matters have sought to propose means 
by which t*he fisheries may be conserved in the interests of the people, and the 
means suggested are as follows: 

1. The passage of necessary restrictive legislation to control the fishermen in 
methods of capture; 

(a) By making it unlawful to take at any time or in any season of the year 
youlig and immature fish which have not reached the spawning age, and 

(6) The establishment of a close season during the spawning period, which will 
allow the fish to perform the function of reproduction undisturbed. 

2. The impregnation of the ova artificially and the hatching of the eggs in suit- 
able hatcheries, whereby the loss of ova may be reduced to the minimum, such 
operations to be conducted on a liberal scale. 

Artificial impregnation has been demonstrated to be highly successful, the his- 
tory of the treatment of the ova of the salmonidae for a series of years showing 
that with proper care the percentage of loss on ova taken will not exceed ten 
per cent. 

The State of Michigan at an early period became impressed with the importance 
of fish culture and has made liberal appropriations for the conduct of this work. 

It has now, established and in operation, four hatcheries. Two of these hatch- 
eries are devoted to the propagation of commercial fish, like the whitefish and pike 
perch or wall-eyed pike, one for the propagation of brook trout, California or 
mountain trout, and the brown trout of Europe, and one for the cultivation and 

23 



178 Michigan and its Resources. 

breeding of carp. It is intended soon to established a station for the culture and 
propagation of the black bass. 

The annual output of whitefish fry for the past four years has been upwards of 
100,000,000, and during the spring of 1893 it will reach nearly if not quite 
200,000,000. 

The average output of pike perch or walleyed pike for the same period has 
been upwards of 30,000,000. 

The output of all varieties of trout averages about 3,000,000 yearly, and of carp 
about 5,000. 

In addition to this there have been distributed about 200,000 salmon trout fry 
annually for the last two years, 2,500,000 white bass and 273,000 silver eels. 

The success of these operations have been eminently satisfactory. Before the 
year 1840 the brook trout was unknown in the waters of the lower peninsula, with 
the exception of one or two streams. Today there is excellent fishing in more 
than fifty counties, and the work is popular everywhere. 



STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 
BY GEO. D. MUSSEY. 

In 1873 an act was passed by the legislature creating this board and the Gover- 
nor appointed two commissioners, who, with himself, constituted the board. In 
1875 the board was reorganized, the statute having been so amended as to provide 
for three commissioners, one for two years, one for four years and one for six 
years, and their successors to be appointed to a term of six years each. The pre- 
sent board consists of Hoyt Post and Herschel Whittaker of Detroit and Horace W. 
Davis of Grand Rapids. The commissioners receive no compensation whatever, but 
are allowed their actual expenses when traveling on the business of the board. The 
work is a labor of love, which every commissioner can testify is an expensive one 
for him. 

The duty of the board is to conduct the artificial propagation of such varieties 
of food fish as it may deem best and to distribute the same gratuitously in the 
waters of the great lakes and the rivers and straits connecting them, or in the 
inland lakes and streams upon the application of some person interested in the 
waters sought to be stocked; the only condition being that the waters thus supplied 
with fish by this board shall be open to the public for fishing by lawful methods 
and at lawful times. 

The varieties now propagated are the whitefish, lake or salmon trout, pike-perch 
or wall-eyed pike, brook trout, California or mountain trout, the brown trout of 
Germany, and the German carp. The distribution of whitefish fry is confined 
exclusively to the great lakes and rivers connecting them; all other varieties are 
furnished upon the application of those interested in the stocking of the inland 
waters in their immediate vicinity. Those wishing fish for stocking streams, lakes 
or ponds should write to the Michigan fish commission, Detroit, for blanks, which 
will be furnished on request and which when filled up and returned will enable 



Fisheries. ' 179 



the board to determine the kind and quantity needed for the waters to be 
supplied. 

Previous to the organization of this board there were very few streams in the 
lower peninsula of this State in which brook trout were native, and below a line 
from Petoskey to Saginaw absolutely no brook trout were to be found. There are 
now nine hundred and seventy-six streams in the lower peninsula, distributed 
through fifty-six counties, which have been stocked by this board, all open to fish- 
ing and in which this most valuable of game fishes may be found in comparative 
abundance. Besides this, a large number of streams have been partially stocked 
with brook trout in several other counties of the lower peninsula and in a number 
of counties in the upper peninsula. These streams will be open for fishing in 
from one to two years. 

The State is rapidly acquiring a wide reputation for its splendid trout fishing 
and the amount of money brought into the State every season by sportsmen and 
tourists on account of the trout fishing is enormous, aggregating many thousands 
of dollars. No enterprise in which the State is engaged returns so directly to 
every class of its people such large and important benefits as do the results of the 
work of the Michigan fish commission. No other State in the union propagates so 
large a number of fish each year, and no State produces fry at so small a cost per 
thousand. 

The State now has four hatching stations, located at Detroit, Paris, Sault Ste. 
Marie and Glenwood. At Detroit is the whitefish and wall-eyed pike hatchery. 
This is the largest and most complete whitefish hatchery in the world. It con- 
tains 1,050 hatching jars, each capable of running four quarts of eggs; a total 
capacity of over 150,000,000 of whitefish eggs. 

At Paris, Mecosta county, is the hatchery for all varieties of trout. This is one 
of the best hatcheries in the United States, and while there may be one or two 
larger ones, there are none which excel it in its construction or adaptability for 
the hatching of trout. Its capacity is about 5,000,000 of fry per year. It has 
never been filled to its fullest capacity. 

At Sault Ste. Marie is a hatchery for whitefish and trout. It was built as an 
experiment and after having been run two years has proved a success for both 
varieties. It will undoubtedly be continued at Sault Ste. Marie, or at some other 
point in the upper peninsula. 

At Glenwood are the carp and goldfish ponds. This station has always been 
successful and the State now breeds more carp than is needed to supply the 
demand. The hatching of goldfish at this station has also been attended with 
success and soon this beautiful fish will be ready for public distribution. 

The following is a statement of fry of all kinds hatched and distributed since 
the organization of the board up to January 1, 1893: 



Whitefish 740,965,500 

Wall-eyed pike 170,723,256 

Brook trout 15,097,900 

White bass 2,500.000 

Lake trout 2,080.301 

California salmon 1,304,651 

Brown trout 507,500 

Total 93.5,885,314 



Schoodic salmon 329,618 

California trout 83,475 

Lock leven trout 43,000 

Cary 26,868 

Black bass 12,245 

Eels 2,211,000 



180 Michigan and its Resoueces. 

In addition to the work of propagating flsh, the board some years ago inaug- 
urated an examination of the inland lakes of the State, commencing with the 
southern tier of counties, intending eventually to examine all the lakes in the 
lower peninsula at least. This work has been continued for seven years and 
accurate and complete records of the examination of each lake are kept, each 
year's reports being bound in separate and permanent volumes, so that in the 
end a complete history of each lake will be on file and the board will thereby 
be enabled to accurately determine what fish are best suited for the waters of 
any given lake. This board was the first to undertake this work, and it is a feat- 
ure that has met the approval and high commendation of all the fish commis- 
sioners from other states who have learned of it. 

For nearly two years the board has employed a statistical agent whose busi- 
ness it is to visit all of the fisheries of the State and get from the proprietors a 
report of their catch, which the law requires them to furnish to this board. A 
very competent man was secured and the statistics now obtained are of great value, 
showing, as they do, notwithstanding the greatly improved methods of fishing and 
the acknowledged destruction of immense numbers of immature whitefish, that 
through the constant replenishing of the waters by this board the annual catch 
of whitefish falls but little short of that of the much hardier and naturally more 
numerous salmon trout. Without the efforts of the Michigan fish commission 
very few whitefish would now be caught in the waters of this State. 

The capital invested in the commercial fisheries of the State exceeds one mill- 
ion of dollars. The annual catch exceeds thirty-five millions of pounds, having 
a wholesale value of over one million of dollars. More than twenty-nine hundred 
miles of nets are in use every year, and employment is furnished to about forty- 
five hundred men. 

This board has, for the last two years, also employed a scientist, who has made 
investigations as directed by the board, and who has already largely increased the 
knowledge of certain fishes. His investigations so far have been confined princi- 
pally to the wall-eyed pike, one of the most valuable, as well as one of the most 
difficult fish to handle and propagate, on account of the great loss in hatching. 
The investigations of this gentleman have not only led to improved methods of 
handling, but have also added largely to the literature on the subject, articles on 
the development of the wall-eyed pike having been written by him and published 
by this board, which have met with the flattering approval of scientists in all of 
the states and in many foreign countries. 

This board provides fish for the farmer, the mechanic, the laborer, the sports- 
man and for commerce. The rich and the poor are benefited alike by the work of 
the board. It has always been true that the Michigan fish commission is the 
friend of all the people; it is rapidly becoming true that all the people are friends 
of the Michigan fish commission. 



MICHIGAN SOLDIERS' HOME. 



The Michigan Soldiers' Home, established in 1885, is situated on Grand river 
three miles north of the center of the city of Grand Rapids, on a plat of ground 
containing 132 acres, which was donated by the city of Grand Rapids at a cost 
of 816,500. The building, which will accommodate 400 members, was completed 
December 1, 1886, at a cost of $99,667.57. The legislative appropriations were: 
For maintenance of inmates for 1885, $10,000; for 1886, $40,000; and for the erec- 
tion of buildings and preparing of grounds, $100,000. The home has at present 335 
inmates ; on leave of absence, 35. Total enrollment for last fiscal year, 212; pres- 
ent value of its property, $168,990. The institution is designed to furnish a home 
for "all honorably discharged soldiers, sailors and marines, who served in the army 
or navy of the United States in the late war of the rebellion, and who are disabled 
by disease, wounds or otherwise, who have no adequate means of support, 
and by reason of disability are incapable of earning their living, and who would 
be otherwise dependent upon public or private charity." To be entitled, however, 
to the privileges of the home, applicants, must have resided in Michigan one year 
preceding the passage of the act establishing the home, or they must have served 
in a Michigan regiment, or have been accredited to Michigan. 

The supervision and government of the home is vested in a board of managers 
consisting of the Governor, who is ex officio chairman, and six members, 
appointed by the Governor, for a term of six years. Public acts No. 152, 1885. 
The legislative appropriation for 1891 and 1892 was $175,750 for the two years; 
1891 the amount was $91,000, and 1892, $84,750. 

BOAED OF MANAGERS. 

Term expires. 

Governor John T.Rich March 1, 1895 

John Northwood, New Lothrop March 1, 1895 

L. W. Sprague, Greenville March 1, 1897 

L. G. Rutherford. Grand Rapids March 1, 1897 

Rush J. Shank, Lansing March 1, 1897 

James A. Crozier, Menominee March 1, 1899 

Loomis K. Bishop, Grand Rapids March 1, 1899 



182 Michigan and its Eesoukces. 

• officeks of the board. 

Governor John T. Rich . Chairman, ex officio 

L. G. Rutherford, Grand Rapids Clerk 

James A. Crozier, Menominee Treasurer 

OFFICERS OF THE HOME. 

Capt. B. F. Graves Commandant 

Maj. J. W. Long Adjutant 

Col. Chester B. Hinsdill Quartermaster 

Dr. D. C. Spalding Surgeon 



MICHIGAN AS A SUMMER RESORT. 



No state in the union offers equal advantages to the resorter. with its 5,000 
small lakes and web work of streams all stocked with gamy fish, and beautiful 
and healthy surroundings all easy of access, and at the same time as wild as the 
most romantic could desire. Streams filled with trout, running through a country 
where deer and bear are to be found, with surroundings as wild and primitive as 
though the destructive hand of man had never touched it, and at the same time 
so close to excellent hotels and camping grounds that no hardships need be experi- 
enced as is so often necessary in order to enjoy such things in other places. 

We have one thousand six hundred miles of coast line, with hardly a stretch of 
five miles without a grand location for camping or a resort already established. 
The variety of " outing places " is so complete that to fail to be pleased in Michi- 
gan would indicate the impossibility to please. All classes of entertainment are 
found, from the grand modern hotel, as fine as the most lavish could wish, to 
the small fishing camp; the fashionable resorts where expenses are not consid- 
ered, to the small camp with expenses cut down to less than fifty cents per 
day all told. As an evidence of the popularity of Michigan resorts, the number 
of resorters are largely increasing each year and an annual visit to the old 
camping ground is looked forward to with pleasure. Thousands of beautiful 
sites on quiet little lakes or on rivers are being bought by clubs and club 
houses built. This is within reach of everybody, as the land can be bought for 
from $1.25 to $25 per acre and a small outlay in buildings will furnish accom- 
modations to a club. 

In the north half of the lower peninsula and in the upper peninsula there is 
not a county that has no lakes or streams. The southern part of the State is 
equally well provided with lakes and rivers, but lacks the wild element and 
cheapness of land, being more thickly settled. The western shore of the lower 
peninsula is dotted with resorts from Berrien to Emmet county. Many have 
been improved at large expense. Macatawa park at Holland is a very elegant 
resort and is largely patronized by excursions from Grand Rapids and other 
cities. Hackley park assembly is located near Muskegon and has connection with 
the city by railroad, boats, etc. It is located on beautiful bluffs, with a grand 
view of Lake Michigan. Charles Hackley, a very liberal gentleman of Muskegon, 
with a keen sense of the beautiful, donated a large amount of money to be 
used in beautifying this place, and it was named by Bishop Newman of Wash- 
ington, D. C, the " Gem of the Chautauquas." The grounds are owned by the 



184 Michigan and its Kesoueces. 

Methodist association Who have a splendid auditorium and other buildings, water 
works and electric light plant. The W. C. T. U. and teachers' association also 
are erecting buildings. From here to Grand Traverse we have no means of 
knowing how many resorts and club houses are located. Going north, the tourist 
on a vessel can hardly get out of sight of one resort or club house before 
another comes in sight. Many church organizations and societies have estab- 
lished resorts. Many old ones, such as Old Mission, We-que-ton-sing, Omena, 
Harbor Point, Bay View. We will not attempt to mention each, for want of 
space, but the tourist need experience no diflBculty in finding a place enchanting. 
The group of islands forming Manitou county are all interesting and many 
lovely locations are there. Across the water, from Menominee, passing Mackinac 
Island, the Les Cheneaux, St. Marys river, passing into Lake Superior, and coast- 
ing on the borders of the State, the most romantic and daring could be satis- 
fied. There are beauties and wonders on the shore of Lake Superior but few 
know anything of. 

All points are reached by rail or water to within a few miles and the trip 
to and from all such places is made cheaply and with comfort. On the east 
border of the State the same condition is found. Lake Huron, a grand body 
of water, St. Clair river, St. Clair lake, Detroit river — a thousand pages would 
not be suflBcient to thoroughly describe all the interesting locations. 

Deer, bear, porcupine, badgers, wild cats, foxes and small game are here but 
are not plenty, only in certain localities. Of wild geese and ducks and other 
feathered game there is a fair supply. Of snakes there are some, but not near 
so many as in states farther south. The fish and game laws of the State are 
calculated to protect and increase, making the sport better each year. 

TRANSPORTATION. 

Resorts are reached by water from all directions, on elegant vessels, and on 
land by railway. Very few stage coaches or canals. It costs but little more to 
enjoy the luxury of a steamer trip than to stay at home. 



EMIGRATION. 



Emigrants who float in with the tide will not find Michigan their El Dorado. 
While Michigan is an open field for intelligent, enterprising and honest workers, it 
has no department for the indolent or vicious class. The long winters admonish 
us that preparations must be made during summer for the coming winter. 

This proves a great incentive to exertioji, and the work of preparing for win- 
ter creates a habit of preparing for coming winters in the future. Michigan is 
a poor place to idle away time and trust in providence for the future supply until 
you have positive assurance that providence will trust you. The lazy, indolent 
and dishonest class will find no opening in Michigan. 

The liord hates a lazy man and the law takes care of the dishonest. Michigan 
is a hive of industry, with no use for drones. The object in migrating is generally 
to better the situation. The capitalist may see better investment for his money, 
the manufacturer advantages justifying removal, the laborer remunerative employ- 
ment, the farmer land within his power to own. For such investigation, we offer 
this book as a guide or help. To induce immigration is not the prime object of 
this work. While additions to our population, if of the right kind, are always 
desirable and welcome, we desire to hold out no false inducements. 

Skilled labor in Michigan is remunerated much the same as in other states. 
Although manufacturing is carried on largely, and the products of the mines and 
manufactories are almost unlimited, it is not intended to convey the idea that 
labor, skilled, clerical or common, is demanded at exorbitant salaries and wages. 
It is much the same as in other states. Let no one suppose that elegant positions, 
fat jobs or first-class employment at big wages await all comers. Such is not the 
case. Many stranded wrecks result from false impressions. After reading booming 
articles in which the truth is entirely ignored, with feverish haste sacrifices are 
made, little savings are used, in the senseless rush to worse than fairy lands, only 
to find nothing as represented and anticipated, but simply to realize that somebody 
lied. The finely written and elaborately illustrated matter published by railroad 
land agents and land companies to induce buyers, should be taken at a very 
large discount, and statements allowed a large percentage for shrinkage. The 
luckless immigrant with false impressions, induced by misleading statements, ctits 
loose his moorings and joins the ranks of the seekers of some " ignis-fatuus,'' many 
to strand in some unpromising or uninhabitable country, without friends or means 
of support, with no bright prospect ahead. With inevitable ruin, want, 
24 



186 Michigan and its Kesources. 

deprivation, and destitution surrounding him, family begging for the most 
meager necessities of life, cold, hungry, disappointed, and, if possessing less than 
iron nerve, completely demoralized. No situation can be more terrible. He 
retraces his weary way to his former home and, if of the right sort, devotes the 
balance of his life to repair his loss. This is not fiction; many, too many, can 
attest its truthfulness. Michigan has its share of paupers and unfortunates and 
we sincerely and earnestly desire to avoid making more. If you desire to locate in 
Michigan, for whatever purpose, we advise investigation, full and satisfactory. The 
State will bear it. If what you want is not found here, no passport is required to 
pass on. If Michigan does not suit you, shake its dust from your feet and seek 
your tenting ground in some other part of the earth. The Creator providentially 
ordained that mankind should be constituted with different likes and dislikes. 
While the Floridian loves his sunny home and orange grove, the northern Mich- 
igander will travel miles on his snow shoes to inform you that he would not 
exchange. First determine what you want, then learn where it is to be found. 

INVESTIGATION. 

Many do not investigate at all, but accept the gilded statements of the boomer 
with blind faith and repeat the drama of the spider and the fly. Others investi- 
gate, but how? With a map spread out before them a bird's eye view of the 
State is had and they know all about it. They read the report of a potato crop, 
possibly the report of some choice acre, and immediately jump at the conclusion that 
that locality is the great potato country. Maps and statistical reports are good as far 
as they go, but when you arrive at any certain locality and look around, you can 
see but a short distance, beyond which you know nothing, and in many cases 
no one can tell you. Of the whole number of sections of land in a state no two 
are alike. They may be similar. Thousands of acres are used for farming in 
Michigan not fit for the business, and at the same time thousands of acres of 
first class land remains unused. Proper investigation would have reversed this 
matter. No State in the union possesses the variety of soils and location that 
Michigan does, from the extremely poor to the best. But you cannot look over 
soils and compare them as you would the wares in a tin shop. Location without 
proper investigation is a leap in the dark. It would not be policy, if possible, to 
sell by forced sale and have occupied every acre of vacant or unused land in the 
State. No state can prosper and flourish with a dissatisfied citizenship, no more 
than can a manufactory flourish with dissatisfied workmen. The same condition 
pervades all the ramifications of business and social life, even from the general 
government down to the humblest home. Success has and always will be the 
American's watchword. Hence, individual success portends State and national 
success. Success depends upon exertion, exertion upon opportunity, opportunity 
upon investigation, plain, positive and personal. 



SHIP YARDS. 



The great and increasing commerce of the lakes makes vessel building an 
important factor in the industries of the State. When it is taken into consid- 
eration that a large part of the labor of ship building is skilled labor, for 
which wages much better than common labor is paid, it will readily be seen 
that a vast amount of money is distributed through this channel. 

In ship building, Wayne county leads as to numbers but Bay very far exceeds 
any other as to tonnage. The following tables show the kind of vessels, tonnage, 
etc.: 





Number and kind of vessels. 


Tonnage. 




Where and by whom built. 


•4 • 

§ a © 


if 


i 

a 


a 

1^ 


Si 


Total 
tonnage. 


Dbtboit and Wyandotte: 
D. D. D. Ck).. 


65 

1 


5 






70 
4 
1 
11 
14 

20 
4 
1 
1 
3 

3 

1 
6 
2 

1 

1 
4 
4 


71,245 

146 

79 

3,561 

4,956 

9,472 

670 

75 

22 

334 

252 

85 

3,670 

234 

16 
33 
249 

1,985 




Cooper . 


3 


i" 

5 
6 

11 
3 

1 

i" 

1 ' 

1 




Tho8. Davie . 




J. Oads . 


6 
4 

2 

1 








Campbell & O 


2 
3 


2 
4 




J.N.Jones.. 




McDonald 




Garrett . 








W. H. Baker.... 






1 
1 

2 




Btapiniski . 


1 


1 




Dean & Co. 




Hicks 






Clark 


3 

2 


2 






Irwin _ 




Ellenwood 




. 1 






Thurston 


1 
1 
3 






MincAllnnnnnn 




1 
1 


2 




Kirby 








Total 


go 


13 


16 


32 


151 




97,084 









188 



Michigan and its Eesources. 



Table showing kind of vesssls, tonnage, etc. — Continued. 





N 


amber and kind of vessels. 


Tonnage. 




Where and by whom built. 


£ • 


to 
« ii 


H 


22 


c 

■si 


Total 
tonnage. 


Bay City and West Bay City: 
F. W. Wheeler & Co 


61 

18 
3 


11 

5 

1 


10 
3 


3 
6 


87 
32 
4 

1 
2 

1 
3 
1 

2 

4 
1 
1 

2 


84,312 

33,217 

2,326 

11 

1,281 

250 

452 

1,158 

1,049 

2,179 
370 
640 
106 




J. Davidson -.- 










1 
1 






Rose - 


1 


1 
1 




Boston 




Hitchcock 


1 
1 
1 


1 










Wheeler 


3 
1 


1 


1 




CrosBwaithe 




Tripp & Co.. 












1 






2 


















Total 


88 


23 


17 


13 


141 




127,351 








Saginaw, East and West: 
Smith & W. 


2 






1 

i" 


3 

1 
7 
1 
3 

8 
1 
1 

1 

1 

1 
14 

1 

1 
1 
3 
1 

1 
1 
1 
4 


897 
41 
925 
218 
912 

2.408 
62 
150 
588 

165 

592 

7,803 

246 

191 

389 

1,969 

266 

493 
328 
847 
465 








1 

5 




Tripp 




1 




Kelly 

Kirby&T. . .. . 


1 

1 

1 




1 

1 


5 
1 


1 

1 




C.Wheeler 




Doherty 
















1 












1 








i 

11 
1 






Arnold . . 


3 






















1 








i 

1 
1 

1 
1 
1 
1 






Crosswaithe 






2 




Fox 


























Lntts 




2" 






Miecellaneons. 


1 






9 


24 


14 


9 


56 




19,455 








Poet Hubon: 
Bedford 








1 


1 
1 

1 
5 
2 

5 

1 
1 
4 

1 
S 
3 
7 


102 
268 
212 
2.085 
319 

1,376 

886 

1,383 

3,577 

19 

792 

564 

3,130 




Jenks & Co. 


1 








Barber 


1 

4 








Donford &A. 






1 

2 

3 




Arnold 












2 




L. Fitz 


1 
1 
1 






D. D. Co 










Marr & Co 


3 








Herrick 


1 


... 
6" 






1 






Stewart... . 


1 


2 
1 




Fitzgerald 














Total . K 


5 


9 


6 


15 


35 




14,663 









Ship Yards. 



189 



Table showing kind of vessels, tonnage, etc.— Continued. 





Number and kind of vessels. 


Tonnage. 




Where and by whom bailt. 


a ^s 


m 


a 
H 


a 

o . 
o g 

OQ 




Total 
tonnage. 


Marine City: 
J.J.Hill 


2 








2 
1 
2 
3 
16 

32 

1 
1 
1 
3 

1 
3 
10 
2 
2 

8 
1 

1 
1 

1 
1 


251 
358 
651 
671 
13,330 

15,144 
218 
953 
739 
638 

296 

1,404 

2,560 

310 

985 

3,612 

42 

593 

268 

26 

15 






1 
1 
1 

1 

12 








Holland.. 


1 

1 
14 

16 
1 


2 


1 

2 




Rice 




Morley&Hill 




Lester & Co. .. 










1 
1 

2 


















Ln£f 






1 






1 
I 

7 




Arnold 


2 
3 

1 
2 

1 












McDowell 


1 






Bashnell 






Anderson 


7 








A. Pope 




1 




Langell. . .. .. 


1 








Kelsey 


1 








Gallagher 




1 

1 






















Total - . 


52 


80 


5 


6 


98 




43.359 








Saugatuck: 

Mastell 

J. EUiott 


3 

5 




16 
2 
1 


1 
1 

i"' 

1 
1 


20 
8 
1 

1 
1 
2 
1 
2 


2,147 
1,161 
20 
121 
465 
441 
118 
226 




Donnelly . 




McMillan . . 








Keith.. 










Rogers _ . 


1 
1 
1 








Brittain 








MiscellaneouB 




1 










Total 


11 




20 


5 


86 




4,699 








Grand Haven: 

Callister .. 


1 
6 
1 

19 


2 


1 
4 


1 


5 

10 
1 
35 
4 
2 
1 
1 


814 

2,207 

608 

6,162 

374 

376 

117 

6 




Kirby 




G. H. H. S. Co 




Robertson 

Pierson 


2 


10 

2 


4 

2 

2 




Litchfield 








Kelly 


1 








Vantall 




1 














Total. 


28 


4 


18 


9 


59 




10,664 






Mt. Clejiens: 
W. Dulac 


6 

1 


4 


1 




11 
1 
1 

2 

1 
1 
1 
2 

1 


6,282 
97 
400 
142 
209 
124 
468 
407 
79 








Stewart 


1 








Saunders 










HallA Kent 










Leighton 










Daily &S 










Dnpras... 


1 








Wardell 














Total 


14 


6 


1 




21 




8,208 









190 



Michigan and its Eesoukces. 



Table showing kind of vessels, tonnage, etc. — Continued. 





Number and kind of vessels. 


Tonnage. 




Where and by whom bnilt. 


S i; £ 




d 


a 

o . 

CO 


-1 


Total 
tonnage. 


St. Claie: 
Langell.. 


8 


7 
1 
1 
1 




1 


16 

1 
1 
1 
1 


9,939 
278 
326 
511 
52 








Bower 










Dolac . 










Miecellaneoas 






1 














Total 


8 


10 




2 


20 




11,106 








Muskegon: 
Arnold 


1 

1 




7 
2 
1 
1 


1 
3 


9 
6 

1 
1 


301 
314 

20 
8 




Foolander 




Notler 




Mitchell 
















Total 


2 




11 


4 


17 




643 








Tbenton : 


10 
6 








10 
13 

1 
1 


7,581 

4,100 

225 

115 






6 
1 




1 




Calkins . . 




W. N. S 






1 














Total - 


16 


7 




2 


25 




12,021 








Gibealtee: 
Ljinn 


6 


5 

1 




3 

1 


14 

2 


9.873 
534 




Calkinn ... 










Total 


6 


6 




4 


16 




10,407 








Algonac: 
Pangborn 








1 

i " 

1 


1 
1 
6 
4 

1 

1 
1 
1 


146 

18 
1,283 
1,110 

119 
286 
800 
119 




Chas. Cash . 






1 

2 
1 




Smith 


1 

2 


3 




Harman 




St,, ftorman 




Barker ....... 




1 






Navangh 






1 




Williams. 






1 












Total.. 


3 


4 


5 


4 


16 




3,381 








South Havem: 
Wilkes 








1 


1 
2 
1 
3 
1 
1 


90 
28 
126 
678 
172 
96 




Winter 






2 




Hancock 


i 

2 
1 






Perene 






I 












Finch... 






1 














Total 


4 




2 


3 


9 




1,168 









Ship Yards. 



191 



Table shoiving kind of vessels, tonnage, etc.— Continued. 





Number and kind of vessels. 


Tonnage. 




Where and by whom built. 


o a s 


i 

_M cd 


m 
cm 
a 
H 


1- 


Whole 
number. 


Total, 
tonnage. 


Htteon: 


1 


1 


1 


3 

1 
1 


6 
1 

1 
1 
2 


1,886 
222 
193 
368 
320 




"R Rnf AH 














Kelly 




1 












2 
















1 


2 


1 


7 


11 




2,989 








Benton Habboe: 


1 

4 
1 






1 


2 
4 

1 


169 

+8.51 
178 




Randall ■ 
























6 






1 


7 




+1,198 

















Vessels were built at other places as follows: 



Where built. 



St. Joseph . 
Manistee... 

Bangor 

Ludington. 
Pentwater.. 



Sebewaing .. 
Cleveland .. 
Marysville .. 

Allegan 

Charlevoix.. 
Fair Haven 



Nnmber and kind of vessels. 



g S • 

0) Q s 






M 0) 



Ton- 
nage.. 



293 
1,146 

3,876. 
132 
124 

315. 
3,121 
394 
573; 
124 
281 



One vessel was built at each of the following places: Oscoda, Portsmouth, Che- 
boygan, Caseville, Sand Beach, Wenona, White Lake, Eastmanville, Baraga, Au 
Sable, North Baltimore, Escanaba, Ferrysburg and Salina. In all three propellers, 
five barges, two tugs and four schooners, with 3,276 tone burden. 

Whole number steam vessels and propellers - 360 

lake barges 1^'^ 

tuge 123 

schooners 133 

Unknown ^ 

Whole number vessels of all kinds.. -._ 771 

Total tonnage 382,052 

Over 1,000 tons burden, 1.32 : over 2,000 tons burden, 7. 



MICHIGAN STATE TROOPS 



BY 0. L. EATON, ADJUTANT GENERAL. 



Michigan's military force comprises five regiments of infantry with an aggre- 
gate strength of nearly three thousand men. Each regiment has eight companies 
and is divided into two battalions. The personnel of the men comprising this 
force is first class. A large majority of its membership is made up of our suc- 
cessful, energetic and pushing young business men, who manifest deep interest 
in the organization. The first regiment has one company at each of the follow- 
ing places, viz.: Ann Arbor, Adrian, Tecumseh, Lansing, Mason, Ypsilanti and 
two at Jackson. 

The second regiment has three companies at Grand Rapids and one each at 
Coldwater, Kalamazoo, Three Rivers, Grand Haven and Ionia. 

The companies of the third are located respectively at Flint, Alpena, Bay City, 
Saginaw, East Saginaw, Port Huron, Owosso and Cheboygan. 

The fourth regiment, with the exception of one company (G, of Monroe), is 
located in the city of Detroit. 

The fifth regiment has five companies, located at Calumet, Menominee. Houghton. 
Marquette and Ironwood in the upper peninsula, but three of its companies, 
those at Big Rapids, Manistee and Muskegon being below the straits. The 
brigade is under command of Brig. Gen. E. W. Bowen, of Ypsilanti. The regi- 
ments are commanded in their numerical order by Col. John E. Tyrrell of Jack- 
son, Col. C. H. Rose of Grand Rapids, Col. C. R. Hawley of Bay City, Col. P. 
J, Sheahan of Detroit and Col. F. B. Lyon of Calumet. 

Money for the support of our military system is raised by an annual tax of 
four cents per capita. It is believed by the writer that the Michigan State 
troops are as well officered as are those of any state in the union, and that 
in discipline, personal appearance, gentlemanly and soldierly conduct, the Michi- 
gan boys are not excelled by those of any of our sister states. 



HEALTH IN MICHIGAN. 



BY HENRY B. BAKER, M. D., SECRETARY OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. 



Man makes most rapid and greatest progress in that belt or zone within which 
the average annual temperature does not much exceed 60° F. or fall much below 
45° F. As regards productiveness of soil, and consequent prosperity in food sup- 
plies, the warmer portion of the zone is believed to be favorable, but the evidence 
seems conclusive that for hardiness of constitution and general and special health- 
fulness the coldest portion excels. The average annual temperature in central 
Michigan is about 46.5° F. But Michigan is exceptionally well situated for cli- 
matic influences. Extreme heat and extreme cold endanger life and health. Mich- 
igan being surrounded, except on the south, by large bodies of water, the tempera- 
ture in summer is not as high as it otherwise would be, and in winter it is not as 
low. How this is favorable to human health may perhaps be better appreciated 
by noticing how it affects tender plant life; it is well known that peach trees are 
easily killed by extreme cold, yet western Michigan is remarkable for its peach 
crops, made possible in this latitude by the mildness of the winter climate, modi- 
fied as it is by the large bodies of water in the great lakes which nearly surround 
the State. This modification of the winter climate in Michigan is undoubtedly 
favorable to human health, by lessening the danger from inflammation of the 
lungs, bronchitis, influenza, etc.; and the cooling of the air in summer by the 
water of the great lakes is favorable by lessening the danger from diarrhea, dysen- 
tery, and the other diseases which are usually coincident with high temperatures. 
Many of the diseases which most commonly kill people are spread by ignorant 
and careless disregard of sanitary law. Safety from such diseases is impossible in 
states and in communities where such disregard is common. In Michigan the peo- 
ple are fast becoming active in efforts for the general promotion of the public 
health. It was one of the first states in the union to establish a State Board of 
Health, and local boards of health are now quite generally organized throughout 
25 



194 Michigan and its Eesoukces. 

the State. The people seem to place a high estimate upon the value of human life 
and health; during the session of 1881 the State legislature passed forty-eight acts 
bearing directly or indirectly upon this subject. No man can live to himself 
alone, — he is greatly dependent upon his surroundings and fellow citizens for 
safety to life and health. One of the greatest recommendations for Michigan as a 
State to live in is the intelligent regard of its citizens for human life and health. 

The conditions in Michigan being favorable for public health and happiness, 
what is the positive evidence of the general result, as shown by the death rate? 
Is it possible to compare the death rate in Michigan with that in other states 
and countries? Unfortunately for our present purpose, governments have nowhere 
paid sufficient attention to this subject of life and health to enable one to make 
accurate and complete comparisons of different states or countries. Considering 
such masses of statistics as are supplied by the census of Great Britain and of 
the United States, etc., this may seem strange, but it is true. The actual death 
rate in these countries has not yet been learned, though for many cities it is 
quite closely ascertained. Censuses of states and countries collect statements of 
deaths which occurred during the year preceding the census, and many deaths 
are omitted because of movements of relatives and friends, and the forgetfulness 
of other people. The omissions are probably not the same in all states, because 
the movements of the inhabitants are not equal. According to the United States 
censuses preceding that of 1880 (the results of which are not yet published) Mich- 
igan has had a very low death rate, lower than that of most other states. After 
the census of 1870, the writer undertook to ascertain, by means of statistics col- 
lected for the same time by another set of men than the census marshals, what 
proportion of the deaths in Michigan were omitted and what the actual death 
rate was. A "Life Table," similar to those employed by insurance companies 
was then made, showing for Michigan the average years of life after each age, 
and for persons of each sex and at every age the probable duration of life in 
Michigan. Obviously it will not do to compare a death rate thus obtained with 
the death rate of any state ascertained directly from the United States census, 
because, to make my life table for Michigan, the deaths by the census were 
nearly doubled — being multiplied by 1.86; but even then the death rate was so 
small that it became desirable to compare it with an exceptionally low one. 
Dr. Wm. Farr, the most eminent vital statistician, has constructed a life table for 
the healthy districts of England, concerning which he has said: 

"We have no means of ascertaining what the rate of mortality would be among 
men living in the most favorable sanitary conditions; otherwise observations for 
a term of years on a considerable number of such persons would supply a stand- 
ard rate with which other rates could be compared. In the absence of such a 
standard, the districts of England in which the mortality rate did not exceed 
seventeen annual deaths in 1,000 living have been selected as the basis of a 
new life table." 

Comparing my life table for Michigan with Dr. Farr's life table of the healthy 
districts of England it is found that they are almost identical, for all ages except 
under five years and over eighty years, the exception under five years being 
explained in part by the fact that for the Michigan table the still-births were 
counted as deaths, while in England they were not; the exception over eighty 
years being that among both males and females the death rate seemed to be 



Health in Michigan. 195 



less in Michigan than in England. The total annual death rate in all England 
is about twenty-two per thousand inhabitants. The total annual death rate in 
Michigan was, according to my life table, about seventeen and four-tenths per 
thousand inhabitants. The inhabitants of Michigan now number nearly 1,700,000. 
In that number of people the difference between a death rate of twenty-two and 
one of seventeen and four-tenths per thousand amounts to over 7,500 lives; and 
according to the Michigan life table, this number of persons are saved in each 
year over what would die if the death rate in Michigan equaled that in all 
England. 

The foregoing was written in 1881, and the statement which I then made,- 
that "one of the greatest recommendations for Michigan as a State to live in 
is the intelligent regard of its citizens for human life and health," is amply 
borne out by the following evidence of the great number of lives saved and cases 
of sickness prevented by public health work, which could only have been accom- 
plished by the intelligent cooperation of the people with health officials. 

PUBLIC HEALTH WORK — RESULTS. 

The public health work in Michigan is well advanced and has strikingly reduced 
the amount of sickness and deaths in the State. 

Legislative enactments provide for the establishment of local boards of health 
in all townships, cities and villages in Michigan. Each of these local boards is 
required by law to appoint a health officer, who shall be an executive officer of 
that board. Part of the duty of the health officer of each local board is to report, 
to the Secretary of the State Board of Health, every outbreak of a communicable 
disease which occurs in his jurisdiction; and to keep the secretary of the State 
board constantly informed respecting every outbreak of such disease. On receipt 
of outbreak reports from health officers (or from other sources), the secretary of 
the State board immediately sends the health officer in whose jurisdiction the dis- 
ease is reported to exist, instructions in regard to preventing the spread of the 
disease, and recommends measures to be adopted to prevent its recurrence. Isola- 
tion of those sick with dangerous diseases, and disinfection of all clothing and 
other articles liable to have become infected with the germs of those diseases, are 
two of the most strongly emphasized recommendations of the State board to local 
health officers. At the end of an outbreak of a communicable disease, the health 
officer in whose jurisdiction it occurred is required to make a final report to the 
office of the State board, stating the number of cases and deaths which took place 
during the outbreak, the source of the contagium which caused it, whether or not 
the preventive measures of isolation and disinfection were resorted to, etc. The 
information thus obtained is compiled in the office of the Secretary of the State 
Board of Health, and from this the first diagram in this article in constructed. 
The following diagrams graphically illustrate the great reduction in the number 
of cases and deaths from several diseases in Michigan. 

The first diagram, relative to "isolation and disinfection,"' shows a very great 
reduction of cases and deaths from scarlet fever and diphtheria in Michigan dur- 
ing the five years, 1886-90, accomplished by isolation of the sick, and disinfection 
of infected rooms, clothing, bedding, furniture, etc., there having been on the aver- 
age about six times as many cases and six times as many deaths in each of the 



196 Michigan and its Kesoukces. 

683 outbreaks in which isolation and disinfection were neglected as in each of the 
613 outbreaks in which isolation and disinfection were enforced. As stated in the 
foot note of the first diagram, during the five years, the total number of out- 
breaks of scarlet fever was 1,857, total number of cases 11,312, and total number of 
deaths 591. If no efforts at isolation and disinfection had been made and the 
averages had remained the same as in the 366 outbreaks in which isolation and 
disinfection were neglected, the number of cases would have been 2i.630 and the 
deaths 1,281. Taking from these respectively the number of cases «nd deaths 
which occurred and there remains the indicated saving froin scarlet fever of 690 
lives and 13,368 cases in the five years. By the same method there is indicated 
for the five years a saving from diphtheria of 2,722 lives and ]5,.302 cases, mak- 
ing a saving during the five years from the two diseases, scarlet fever and diph- 
theria, of 3,410 lives and 28,670 cases of sickness. 

The next diagram, "Lives Saved by Public Health "Work," compiled from the 
State department's vital statistics of Michigan shows a great reduction in the 
death rate, indicating a saving of over ten thousand (10,851) lives from the three 
diseases, scarlet fever, small-pox and typhoid fever, by public health work since 
the State Board of Health was established, in the year 1873. Diagram number 
sixteen shows a reduction of over half in the sickness from scarlet fever during 
the five years. (1887-91, compared with the five years, 1877-81, these two periods 
being ten years apart. 



MICHIGAN STATE BOARD OF HEALTH EXHIBIT. 



LIVES SAVED BY PUBLIC-HEALTH WORK. 
COMPARISON QF DEATH-RATES IN MICHIGAN 
FROM SCARLET FEVER AND SMALL-POX BE- 
FORE AND SINCE THE STATE BOARD OF 
HEALTH WAS ESTABLISHED AND FROM TY- 
PHOID FEVER BEFORE AND SINCE ITS RE- 
STRICTION WAS UNDERTAKEN BY THE STATE 
BOARD. COMPILED FROM STATE DEPART- 
MENT'S ''VITAL STATISTICS^'OF MICHIGAN. 



REPORTED DEATHS PER 10,000 INHABITANTS. 




LIVES SAVED FROH: SCARLET FEVER (17 YEARS) 7^65; SNALL-POX U7 YEARS) LSII: TYPHOIO FEVER (12 YEARS) Lt7l . ^ 



MICHIGAN STATE BOARD OF HEALTH EXHIBIT. 

ISOLATION AND DISINFECTION RESTRICTED 
SCARLET FEVER AND DIPHTHERIA IN MICHI- 
GAN DURING THE 5 YEARS 1886-90. 



SCARLET FEVER. 

ISOLATION AND DISINFECTION 



NECLECTED .IN 



.366 OUTBREAKS, 

I AVERAGE 
MCASESibEATHa 



ENFORCED, IN 



361 OUTBREAKS, 
AVERAGE 




DIPHTHERIA. 

Isolation and disinfection 



NECLECTEa iN 



p 



317 outbreaks, 
AVERAGE 



ENFORCEa iN 



252 OUTBREAKS, 
AVERAGE 



CASESlbEATtiS 



T0TALti0UTBREAK8,I^S7;CASEt.ll,3l2;DEATH$,S9l 
IIDICATEO SAVIMC OF CASES 13.2S X I.8S7 - ir.3l2 : IS.SfiS 
laOICATCO SAVING OF LIVES .S9 X I.85T - S9I : (SO 



T0TALS.0UT8RCAKS,I.S8 5,C*SC$.ll,S3 4,OEATHS,247l 

INDICATED SAVING OF CASES 13.57 X l,98S-M,S34:IS.302 

INDICATED SAVING OF LIVES 2.S7 X l.98S-247*:2.7}2 



Health in Michigan. 



199 



MICHIGAN STATE BOARD OF HEALTH EXHIBIT . 

HUM' DLCRCASE OF SICKNESS FROM SCARLET FEVER, IN MICHICAN 



i '^ '' Cliff' rt fri-siiiti inj Sniitiejj Jfojii Sccrltt Fevei' in JbicKi^an durintj lino periods of fjear^, 
\ 2* /ft77-(?/, ond Ih^l-^J. During the Jirii Jive-i^ear per'icd the average per cent of reports is 2.1, 
' f' dvenuj lti( li'sl fivc-ijctir period il a ^,-a decrea^te oj oiter vne-hclj oj the sicHness. 




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j SicAiii^Jrciii Jccrui fliir, 5 inters. /S77- tl SicHness from Scarlet Fever, 5 t^rsj.lii7-fl- i::.-^ 

' ■ ''' reports reeeitcd staled lh€ presence of starlet Jever then under the 
rc peril iitj. 
icKiiess XI rt received Jor the first perud.aTuC over ll^fiOO Jor the todl peritd. 



L 'liidictiiiiiij u/lifil /jer cent rj all 
Xobsent'litn vj Itie pii t^siiifns 
%^^iee (7.000 UifrKhj rr^jtris of sii 



-^ 



SAULT STE. MARIE. 



BY C. H. CHAPMAN. 



Sault Ste. Marie has been, is now and will continue to be a favored locality; 
a place wherein large public expenditures will be made, so long as navigation 
and railway traffic continues. The State of Michigan began large public expendi- 
tures here as early as 1837. Stevens T. Mason, the first Governor of Michigan, 
after its admission into the union as a state, urged in his message to the legis- 
lature the importance of building a ship canal around the Ste. Marys rapids. 
March 21, 1837, an act was approved by the Governor appropriating S25,000 for 
a survey, providing for maps, profile, etc., to be made, together with an estimated 
cost of the construction. The survey was completed that year, but the State 
and general government authority came into conflict over the right to pass 
through certain lands, and the actual construction, of what has since grown to 
be the greatest ship canal in the world, was not begun until sixteen years after 
Governor Mason first called public attention to this needed improvement of the 
great water-ways. Congress appropriated 750,000 acres of land to aid the State 
in building the canal and locks. Work was begun June i, 1853, and finished 
on the 21st of May, 1855. The canal was three-fourths of a mile in length, one 
hundred feet wide and contained two consecutive locks, each 350 feet long, 70 
feet wide and 13 feet depth of water. The actual cost of the canal was $999,- 
802.46. From the date of its opening the lake traffic increased annually at such 
a rate that in 1870 the United States government began its improvements of 
the canal. A new lock, 515 feet long and 80 feet wide, with 17 feet of water on 
the miter sills and with a lift of 18)^ feet, was built at a cost of $2,150,000. This 
lock was completed and opened to navigation September 1, 1881. June 9, 1881. 
the canal was transferred to the general government from the State. This work 
had barely been completed when the demands of commerce, so enormously 
increased, compelled further improvements, and on May 4, 1887, work was begun 
on another new lock, now nearly completed, on the site of the old State locks. 
The lock now in operation at the Soo is the largest in the world, and the new 
one, when completed, will be nearly double its capacity. The lock now being 
constructed will have a length of 800 feet between gates, a width of 100 feet 
throughout, a depth of 21 feet of water on the miter sills, with a lift of 18j4 



H 

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m 

o 
o 

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m 
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Sault Ste. Marie. 201 



feet. The estimated cost of this canal improvement is $4,738,865. It is expected 
that it will be completed and ready for operation in 1894. The following com- 
parative statement of the traffic through the canal for the years 1855 and 1892, 
will give an idea of the increase and development of lake navigation during the 
past thirty-seven years: 

1855. Registered tonnage, 106,290 — coal, tons, 1,414; flour, barrels, 10,287; iron ore, 
tons, 1,447. 

1892. Registered tonnage, 10,647,203— coal, tons, 2,904,266; flour, barrels, 5,418,1.35; 
iron ore, tons, 4,901,132. 

Another great improvement the government has undertaken at this point is the 
opening of Hay Lake channel, shortening the distance through the Ste. Marie 
river eleven miles and making it possible to navigate this river at night, a con- 
dition impracticable with the present channel. This work is now partially com- 
pleted. The estimated cost of this improvement is $2,659,115. 

The United States government is prosecuting another great improvement in the 
city of Sault Ste. Marie, now nearly completed, that of rebuilding and enlarg- 
ing Fort Brady, at a cost of $250,000. 

The International railroad bridge here, a mile in length and costing $1,000,000, 
was completed in 1888. It is the connecting link of three trunk lines of railroad 
centering here. The city is located at the junction of the three great lakes, 
Superior, Michigan and Huron, on the great water highway between the east, the 
west and the northwest, at the only point between Duluth and Buffalo where it 
can be easily bridged for railways. Three roads are built and other great trunk 
lines are centering here, which makes it a natural distributing point and gives 
it every advantage of rail and water transportation, insuring cheap freight rates, 
both for raw material and manufactured product. 

The city when the United States census was taken in 1890 had a population 
of 5,760, which is steadily increasing. It is lighted by electricity, has a fine sys- 
tem of water works and sewers, and has four miles of electric street railway in 
operation. One-eighth of the commerce of the United States passes through the 
Soo canal and locks. 
26 



^01 



^■. 



GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL FEATURES 



BY F. S. DEWEY, ALPENA, MICH. 



[ The following article was received almost too late for insertion, but it is consid- 
ered too valuable to omit. The work was retarded by articles being withheld, 
while on the other hand the early issuance of the work was urged. This will, to 
some extent, explain any want of order in arrangement of subjects:] 

On rowing a boat close to the beach along the shore of Thunder bay, one will notice 
that the water close to the shore is much deeper than it is a few rods further out. 
Still beyond is another deep depression and then again another shallow. On close 
observation it will be found that the shallow places are long ridges or banks of sand 
under the water running parallel with the shore. The constant action of the waves 
along the beach digs the sand away and the undercurrent carries it back and places it 
in these long parallel ridges. In going back from the water on the land one finds great 
numbers of long sand ridges, just the same as those in the bottom of the bay and 
which look like great earthworks thrown up by some ancient army in its gradual and 
stubborn retreat. These curious lines of embankment having their incipient growth 
beneath the waters of the lake are found all along the shore of the bay and lake, lying 
parallel and generally only a few rods apart and extending back from a mile to ten 
miles, and in some cases as far back as twenty or twenty five miles from the shore. 
These formations are very marked in and about Alpena, and especially between Alpena 
and Ossineke. Two or three miles west of Alpena we find them crossing the road at 
intervals of a quarter to a half of a mile. Beyond or west of each of these ridges is a 
level plane or terrace just a few feet higher than its succeeding one to the east. 
Finally, nine miles west of Alpena, the State road comes to a hill, beyond which there 
are no more of these old lines of ancient earthworks. Along the foot of this hill or 
high bluflf are great numbers of rounded stones or boulders all plainly worn and 
smoothed by the water long ages ago. Here it is very plain to see was once the shore 
of Lake Huron. These rounded boulders were sorted from the sand and pushed up in 
line along the shore by the ice and waves many thousand years ago. Farther to the 
northwest, along the shore of Presque Isle county, the work of the terrace epoch is 
beautifully illustrated, and particularly as one approaches Crawford's quarry from the 
south one may see these huge terraces developed in a most pronounced manner. 
While yet a mile or more away one suddenly comes in full view of Lake Huron, the 
blue waters of the lake appearing to rise like a distant bank or plain to blend and min- 
gle with the blue sky abose. While standing there on the ancient shore where the 
waters of Lake Huron beat and broke for ages, one sees before him a giant stairway 
with broad steps or terraces leading down to the lake. Just west of Crawford quarry 
the level road leads along one of these broad terraces. A hundred and eighty feet 
above and in plain view at the left is the ancient shore from which a great stairway 
leads abruptly two hundred feet down to the present water level. The boy with his 
hand sled in winter may leap with the speed of an arrow over the history of a hundred 
decades of centuries in much less than a hundred seconds. This old lake shore may 
be plainly traced not only along the shores of Lake Huron and Saginaw bay, but along 
Lakes Erie and St. Clair as well. Near Denmark junction, southeast of Saginaw, the 



Geographical and Geological. 203 

old lake shore is plainly marked, so also just east of Yale, at Ridgway, Utica and at 
Lenawee Junction, near Adrian. Between these several points and the present shore 
may be plainly seen these ancient terraces or shore lines. 

It need hardly be mentioned that when the lakes stood at this higher level they were 
all one excepticg, of course, Lake Ontario. There was no Niagara river then and only 
Lake Ontario went down the St. Lawrence to the sea. All the rest had an outlet of 
their own dov/n through Illinois and the Mississippi. Indeed much of the great 
prairies of Illinois were then the bottom of Lake Michigan. Once ages upon ages 
before there had been another Niagara gorge, much of its course lying to the west of 
the Niagara of today. For untold centuries the old river had flowed and worn a deep 
■channel down through the rocks and another old Niagara falls had shaken the earth 
with its thunder. 

For some reason perhaps not yet fully understood there came about a remarkable 
•change in climatic conditions, but whatever the cause may have been the result was 
that the northern part of North America and of the old world as well became covered 
to a very great depth with ice and snow. Great glaciers were thus formed of very 
wide extent, at some period of their existence, in all probability, being as wide as the 
■continent itself. This vast sheet of ice and snow swept slowly and with irresistible 
force in a direction generally southward, bearing before it and within its mass and 
along its under surface immense accumulations of debris, rocks, gravel, sand and mud, 
which, between the upper and the nether millstone of nature, were ground up and 
comminuted and prepared for tillable land. The same thing is going on in Greenland 
today, where the vast fields of ice sweep slowly over the surface of the land, push their 
margins gradually out into the ocean and finally as huge icebergs break off and float 
away. Ln the mountainous regions of Switzerland as well as in Alaska these glaciers 
are continuing their work. 

How long this reign of ice continued is a matter of conjecture, but it is pretty cer- 
tain that its history covered a vastly greater period than does the history of man. 
During all these thousands of years it carried on its work of breaking off huge frag- 
ments of rocks far to the north, grinding them up into rounded boulders, gravel, sand 
and clay and preparing them for the advent of civilized man. This immense sheet of 
ice extended certainly as far south as the Ohio river and perhaps at times very much 
farther. Then slowly year after year its southern margin began melting away. Some- 
times its great nose full of sand and mud melted off just as fast as it pushed south- 
ward, thus forming a great bank of earth before it. These banks are the hills and 
knolls of our beautiful peninsula. As the springtime gradually dawned nothing was 
left of this ice field about Michigan except great tongues of ice several hundred miles 
in length pushing out of the cold north, one from the northeast along the bed of Lake 
Erie; one from the northwest, bending to the south down Lake Huron; a third coming 
straight down through the valley of Lake Michigan; while a fourth swept westward 
along the region occupied by Lake Superior. It is perhaps needless to add that these 
great inland seas were for the time being entirely swept out of existence, their beds 
being more than filled by these vast sweeping fields of ice. The glacier that plowed 
down through the bed of Lake Huron crowded up a somewhat irregular furrow on its 
western margin, a sort of lateral moraine which extends from about the middle of 
Alpena county southward more than fifty miles. It presents an almost unbroken line 
of hills from two hundred to three hundred feet above the level of Lake Huron, in 
some places presenting sides as steep as it is possible for the soil to lie. 

Centuries after this a second furrow or moraine was formed, beginning between 
Devil lake and Hubbard river in Alpena county and extending generally parallel with 
the first, but in much more broken hills of varying heights. The lofty table land back 
of Ossineke rising to a height of two hundred and fifty feet, is a portion of this last 
moraine. 

Of course the edges of this glacier were somewhat irregular and this was 
especially the case with its anterior margin, in consequence of which the earth 
which it transported was deposited in irregular heaps and banks and lines. It 
trickled and tumbled down out of the lofty, melting, jagged sides and prow of 
this ice plateau and was often nicely assorted by the creeks and rivulets thus 
formed from the melting ice into plainly distinguishable layers of sand and 
gravel and clay. These layers are found lying at every angle of elevation and 
in every corrugated form, wherever excavations are made through our hills for 
railroad or other purposes. Even ripple marks and little gravel beds show 
plainly where flowed out of the melting mass some turbid, rushing stream. In 
this manner were formed all the hills in Michigan south of Mackinaw, as well 
as the round tops and high ridges of Ohio and Indiana. Many of these hills 



204 Michigan and its Resources. 

attain almost to the dignity of mountains, but differ from them in one very 
important particular, which is that they are composed entirely of earth trans- 
ported from the north by glacial action. None of them are built up of solid 
rocks elevated by some subterranean forces, as are all true mountains. While- 
rocks, to be sure, underlie all of the southern peninsula of Michigan in super- 
imposed, almost horizontal layers, still they are hidden from view except in 
comparatively few localities by the earth — or drift, as it is called — transported 
here by the glaciers. This drift is of wonderfully varying thickness. In the 
eastern part of Alpena county there are hundreds of acres with not enough 
drift covering the ledge rocks to make a garden, while west of the old shore 
line of the lake the thickness of the drift reaches from one hundred to three 
hundred feet, while in some portions of the State it reaches a depth of at least 
six hundred feet. It may not be generally understood how much of the beau- 
tiful and lovely scenery of Michigan is due to the action of these ancient 
glaciers. Their deeply serrated southern margins melting slowly or rapidly as 
the sun traveled high or low in the heavens, or, as the glacier moved more rapidly 
or slowly, left irregular and huge piles of drifts as are plainly observable about 
Ann Arbor and Hillsdale. Prospect Hill in Lenawee county reaches a height 
of six hundred feet above the general level, while Bundy's hills, farther to the 
west, are almost as high. These are fine examples of irregular terminal moraines. 
Nearly all of the thousand beautiful little lakes which add so much charm to 
the landscape simply occupy the hollows consequent on the irregular melting of 
the glaciers. 

As would be natural to suppose, the underlying rock upon which these glaciers 
plowed and scraped their way southward show unmistakable evidence of the tremen- 
dous power of this moving sheet of ice. Wherever by excavation the rocks are exposed 
to view, they are found scraped, planed and polished almost as smooth as a marble 
table. The strice or lines and furrows made by the scraping of the pebbles and bould- 
ers in the bottom of the glacier over the softer underlying rocks clearly point out the 
direction which the glaciers traveled. At Alpena they show the direction of the gla- 
cier to be southeast by east. In many places throughout Alpena county these glacial 
markings are beautifully exhibited. The Lockwood school in Alpena has more than 
twenty blocks of stone in its foundation cut by the chisel of this ancient artisan. 
Some of the boulders transported from Canada down into Michigan are of remarkable 
size, the measurement of several in the eastern part of Alpena county indicating a 
weight of more than a hundred thousand pounds. One of them, perhaps the largest, is 
a jasper conglomerate or pudding stone, closely similar to the class rock placed on the 
university campus by the class of 1862. It is, however, many times larger. Perhaps 
no finer specimen can be found in the State illustrating both the transported boulder 
and the action of the glacier, than the great black mass lying close by the Michigan 
Central railway station at Battle Creek. This was evidently transported from near 
Lake Superior and borne in the bottom of the glacier, as is evidenced from its- 
polished surface, its glacial markings and flattened form. 

As one contemplates the work performed by the ancient glaciers in and about 
Michigan, it seems almost impossible to fail to recognize a purpose in it all. Th& 
material ground up and transported by them and spread out over the hitherto almost 
barren rocks constitute a factor of the very highest importance. The scanty soil 
thinly sprinkled over the almost barren rocks would have given a very meager response 
to the labors of the husbandman. To them he is indebted for all the material out of 
which he has made the beautiful farms of Michigan, while the hard heads or boulders 
so extremely abundant everywhere throughout the State undoubtedly have a purpose 
besides that of a building material, but somehow heretofore a very shortsighted policy 
seems to have blinded the people's eyes to its value. To be sure they have for many 
years been extensively employed to make the most abominable street pavement that 
ever tortured the living or jostled the dead, but their value for roads and highways, 
when crushed into fragments, seems to have been very tardily appreciated. 

As has just been stated, underlying the whole of Michigan south of Mack- 
inaw are layers upon layers of different kinds of rock which was once sedi- 
ment or mud deposited in the bottom of the ocean. These sedimentary rocks 
are of varying thickness and in the central portion of the State reach a depth 
of many thousand feet. Underneath them all lies the granite, the universal 
foundation of all sedimentary rock. These strata of sedimentary rock lie one 
upon the other like a pile of very flat plate with the center in Gratiot county. 
The top one or the last and smallest of all was formed at the very beginnings 
of the coal period and is perhaps a hundred and fifty miles across. Its south- 



Geographical and Geological. 205 



«rn margin is close by the city of Jackson, while its northern extremity is a 
few miles north of the western end of Saginaw bay. All the coal of Michigan 
is found in that stratum. Any attempt to search for coal outside the limits here 
indicated would therefore be a waste of time and capital. Fragments and per- 
haps sometimes considerable masses of coal might be found in the extreme 
southern portion of the State, but its existence there is easily accounted for 
by the action of the glaciers. Small masses of copper and iron are also frequently 
found scattered over the surface of the southern peninsula, but it would be 
utterly useless to search for them anywhere south of Mackinaw. Each success- 
ive underlying plate or stratum of rock is larger and its edges crop out all 
around the edges of the smaller plate, escept some of the lower ones, which dip 
down under the states of Indiana and Ohio. Long before the glacier epoch 
when Michigan was a gulf of the sea almost surrounded by land and as the 
sea retreated it left salt or brine in these plates or basins. In Saginaw brine 
is obtained from one of these basins and at Tawas from another and a lower 
one, while at Alpena at a depth of about 1,250 feet we strike a very thick bed 
of pure, solid rock salt. This is in a still lower basin and can be obtained only 
by letting in water from above and pumping it out as brine. The most of 
these sedimentary rocks are limestone, while some are shale, like that at Sul- 
phur island in Thunder bay. There are strata of sandstone as at Ionia, where 
is found a beautiful mottled stratum colored with iron. This is a most elegant 
stone for building purposes and is the more valuable because of the ease with 
which it is cut. Another stratum crops out at Napoleon and Stony Point and 
would also if properly worked be found very valuable for building purposes. 
There is also a peculiar sandstone cropping out near Marshall which is very 
full of fresh water mussels, showing its origin to have been la custrine. Much 
of the limestone rock is literally full of the remains of animal life and there 
is one stratum at least of considerable thickness cropping out near Alpena that 
is composed almost entirely of marine shells. The oil of these animals is much 
of it still stored up in the rocks, and if there was only an impervious covering 
to keep the oil from escaping then we might in many localities obtain petro- 
leum in large quantities and of the best quality. It oozes out of the ground 
in many places in Alpena county and at Alpena, while boring through the 
lower Devonian rocks, a very fine quality of oil was struck at a depth of 1,200 
feet. In this region the rocks are all broken into fragments by the ancient 
earthquakes, so that water flows freely through them and forces the oil and 
gas out apparently as fast as it is distilled. In many places the surface water 
drops into holes and crevasses in the rocks, thus forming underground currents 
or streams. This is emphatically true of the western part of Presque Isle 
county and the northern half of Alpena. If, therefore, wells are bored anywhere 
along the shore southeast of these localities the drill would almost surely strike 
some of these crevices in the rocks and the water would come up to the surface. 
If the casing pipe is extended upward the water will still rise in it from thirty 
to seventy feet. In the city of Alpena are eight of these flowing wells, yield- 
ing not less than five million gallons daily. Five of them are only five or six 
hundred feet in depth, while two others about 1,300 feet deep yielded a very 
excellent mineral water which is very strongly impregnated with sulphur gas. 
This gas in the water has power to dissolve the limestone rock and constantly 
increase the size of the underground passages. In the region above named are 
a large number of remarkable illustrations of the corroding effect of this gas. 
Immense caverns have been formed down deep in the rocks, thus leaving an 
unsupported dome, which in hundreds of cases has dropped down into the sub- 
terranean cavern. 

The gradual dissolving and wearing away of the fallen debris has left wells 
or pits of horrid depth anc^ prodigious size, the existence of which very few 
people have any knowledge. In the northern part of Alpena county in the 
township of Long Rapids are some remarkable specimens of these giant wells. 
In one forty acre lot are five of these deep pits which are substantial types of 
all the rest. 

They are in the midst of a grand old forest scarcely touched as yet by the 
hand of man, and so dense is it that one finds himself without any warning 
right on the very brink of the yawning abyss. The first at which one arrives 
is the type of all the rest throughout this region. It is partly full of water, 
how deep has not been determined, but it is a hundred and sixty feet from 
its ferned and flowered rim to the liquid mirror below, and across the top from 



206 Michigan and its Kesources. 

rim to rim is about two hundred and fifty feet. The walls are perpendicular 
solid rock and grey dolomite Hamilton limestone with patches of moss, and here 
and there a lichen or a trailing vine clinging to the seams and crevices of the 
dark old walls. Twenty-five years ago a large tall white pine stood leaning so 
far out over the rim that it could not have been saved. When it was cut it 
swept over, down, and shot like a javelin head first into the water below and 
entirely disappeared from sight. It soon rose to the surface stripped of its 
branches, where it still remains floating in undisturbed tranquility. While many 
of these wells are partly filled with water at all seacons of the year, there are 
many others which are always dry and still others which are filled during times 
of freshet. Many of them receive brooks and creeks which plunge down in 
beautiful cascades and disappear among the jagged rocks at the Vjottom. 

In the southern part of Presque Isle county is one of these pits which is 
worthy of more than a passing notice. While approaching by the main traveled 
road which leads close past the western margin, one is attracted by the sound 
of rushing waters long before arriving in sight of the pit. Leading down to it 
from the east is a long, narrow, rocky ravine more than a mile in length and 
perhaps an eighth of a mile wide, gradually deepening till at the western 
extremity it reaches a depth of at least 150 feet. This extremity is one of those 
giant wells like the ones before described. The general contour of this ravine 
is closely similar to the prostrate form of a man, the feet slanting upward to 
the east. Besides the well which represents the head, there is another at the 
shoulders, the two being joined together by a narrow channel which represents 
the neck. The north branch of Thunder bay river, sweeping around from the 
northwest, is one of the most beautiful streams in Michigan and millions of 
feet of forest timber are floated down its channel every year. It is a river 
about the size of the Huron at Ann Arbor and furnishes all the year round 
reliable water power for a good size saw-mill and also a grist-mill side by side, 
after passing which all its waters are poured into this ravine. The entrance is 
at the upper or easterly end, and the river comes rushing and foaming down 
along the rugged, rocky channel to the shoulders and through the neck into the 
head. Here in a great eddying whirlpool 250 feet across it sweeps round and 
round and is all swallowed up in this bottomless pit. During the freshets of the 
spring and autumn this ravine generally fills up with water, making a lake 
more than a mile in length and 150 feet in depth. The river then flows on 
over its hitherto dry bed beyond, not only undiminished in volume but, on the 
contrary, largely augmented by great volumes of water boiling up from the 
same subterranean caverns that had formerly swallowed it down. All logs, drift 
wood and debris which have accumulated at the head are now swept by the 
force of the current out at the feet. This wonderful curiosity is popularly 
known as sunken lake. 

The number of these giant wells in the region of Alpena county reaches close to- 
three hundred. Most of them are very large and deep, with perpendicular lime- 
stone walls, and, of course, cannot be explored without the aid of a pulley and 
line. Some are churn shaped, increasing in size downward, and it is more than 
probable that careful exploration would reveal very interesting subterranean pas- 
sage-ways. Indeed, the finding of large caves in rocks so full of fissures capable of 
swallowing up a large river, together with hundreds of creeks and smaller streams, 
could scarcely be a matter of surprise. Many of them bear the most undoubted 
evidence of having been very recently formed and one, on the line of the Au Sable 
and Northwestern railroad, was certainly formed in a single night. It is related by 
the foreman of the construction that a section of the road, all finished and ready 
for trains, dropped out of sight and there was left what appeared to be a bottom- 
less pit filled with water which no amount of filling seemed to affect. It became 
necessary to change the line and pass around. Most of these pits seem to belong- 
to a series which lie in a general line extending frofh Misery bay, five miles east 
of Alpena, to town 34-1, perhaps sixty miles northwest. They undoubtedly approx- 
imately indicate the course of the subterranean river. The fact that many of them 
are partly filled with water during times of freshet, together with great numbers of 
fish of considerable size, would certainly indicate some such subterranean connec- 
tion. In one of these wells far to the northwest we learn, from the very highest 
authority, that a large number of fish, no less than twenty barrels, were left 
struggling in the bottom of the well unable to find their way out as the water 
sank away and left them. Near the head of Long lake is one from which con- 
siderable quantities of fish have been taken and trapped in small pools where 



Geographical and Geological. 207 

the receding water had left them. As there are no surface atreams whatever to 
either of these pits just named, they furnish the most positive proof of the 
existence of an underground river. Not only have we the proof of its existence, 
but its very course may be traced with a considerable degree of accuracy. Start- 
ing at the prime meridian in the middle of the west boundary of Presque Isle 
county, it takes a southeasterly course down into the township of Long Rapids 
in Alpena county, thence northeast across Maple ridge to Long lake, thence 
bending to the southeast and continuing along near the shore of this lake it flows 
in nearly a straight line to the southeast till it terminates in Misery bay. Just 
southeast of Long lake there is an extensive deep synclinal depression in the 
rocks, undoubtedly due to the river wearing away the supporting rocks below. 
This depression, known as the Narrows, is usually a lake a mile in length and 
sixty feet or more in depth and emptying by a large stream into Lake Huron. 
The outlet of Long lake passes through it, but in very dry weather all the water 
in this basin leaks out through the crevices in the clean, bare rock strata at 
the bottom, leaving only a small pool in one of these deep wells. 

Misery bay. where this subterranean river empties, is really a small, shallow, 
inland lake of about two hundred acres in area, connected with Lake Huron by 
a narrow entrance, sometimes too shallow for even a fish boat to enter. Its 
western extremity is bounded by high bluffs, at the margin of which the ledges of 
rocks have pitched downward toward the water, leaving a rugged rim and a deep 
rift in the rocks one-half mile long and ten to twenty feet deep. The arch geolo- 
gist who will squeeze his way along this narrow rift will find between the strata 
a rich harvest of very perfect devonian fossils. In fact the whole State of Mich- 
igan does not afford another field that can compare with the Thunder bay region 
in the extent, variety and perfection of its fossil remains. In the bottom of this 
little bay are three of these giant wells, one of them larger and deeper than any 
heretofore noted. This is the one which constitutes the mouth of the underground 
river. In summer the water boiling up from this immense pit is cold as spring- 
water, while in the coldest winters ice never forms on the surface, but a broad 
open river leads out through the narrow channel into the open lake. Even when 
the thermometer is far below zero and the ice outside along the shore is from 
two to three feet thick, flocks of wild ducks find this secluded spot an inviting 
place to spend the entire winter. A strange peculiarity of this subterranean river 
is its intermittent flow. Every twenty minutes an immense volume of water pours 
out from down below filling the little bay to a height of eight inches above 
the ordinary level, thus causing the water to rush out through the narrow open- 
ing into Lake Huron, and then for twenty minutes it rests again and the tide 
goes down, and thus the rising and the falling of the tide goes on as if from 
the mighty pulsations of some great heart down in the bosom of the earth. 

Aside from the curious phenomena connected with the subterranean river here 
lies hidden, only five miles from the busy city of Alpena, the most secluded, the 
most charming spot on the whole west shore of Lake Huron. Several large springs 
boil up from the bottom of the bay, it is full of fish and in season fairly swarm- 
ing with wild water fowl, many of which fondly tai-ry through the entire long 
winter. Out beyond this little inland lake is Little Thunder bay, of a thousand 
acres or more, fairly separated and protected from the open lake by the long, 
slender arm of Misery point, together with Round island and Crooked island, both 
these islands being very safe and delightfully charming camping grounds for the 
seeker after health, rest and recreation. 

The question is very frequently asked what valuable minerals may we hope to find 
in the rocks of the southern peninsula. No doubt the reader has already learned 
enough of their character to enable him to answer this question for himself. The 
character of the rocks plainly indicates that at several different times in the early his- 
tory of the globe the ocean covered the entire peninsula, and we further learn that 
most of these rocks are simply sedimentary deposits laid down as mud or sand in the 
bottom of this ancient sea. It would be quite unreasonable to presume that any 
considerable quantity of gold or silver, copper or iron, should ever have been float- 
ing around in the warm water of the old steamy ocean. These metals are never 
deposited in the mud or slimy ooze of the ocean's bed, and to search for them 
there would be the height of folly. It is true indeed that nuggets of copper 
and masses of iron have been often found in all parts of the southern penin- 
sula and even in Ohio and Indiana, but having been brought down from the 
Lake Superior country by the force of the ancient glaciers, they possess no 



208 Michigan and its Kesoueces. 

special significance. They have found their way there in the same manner as 
have the boulders and hard heads heretofore described. 

While this peninsula has none of the metals referred to, it possesses a most 
extraordinary wealth in its mines of coal, its inexhaustible salt wells, its exten- 
sive and numerous stone quarries and alabaster beds, the remarkable variety and 
immense extent of its forest products, the charming beauty of its numberless 
crystal lakes and rivers, all peopled with swarms of fish, and wild fowl in almost 
endless variety; and, added to these, a depth and fertility and variety of soil 
which never for a single season fails to respond by abundant harvests to the 
labors of the husbandman. It seems no wonder that nature, casting about it 
her great protecting arms of Lakes Huron and Michigan, should hold it like a 
precious jewel in her fond embrace, cooling and moistening the heated air of 
summer and adding warmth and humidity to the cold blasts of winter. The 
intelligent foreigner contemplating removal from his fatherland casts his eye 
across the length and breadth of the checkered map of our country and finally, 
instinctively placing his finger on the picture of that beautiful spot of earth 
which is laved and kissed on all sides by those great inland seas, exclaims to 
himself: "There will I make my home." In like manner from many a thank- 
less hillside and narrow vale in New England the weary husbandman has turned 
his footsteps toward the setting sun and found himself a happy home between 
those great warm arms. It is perhaps to this class of people, quite as much 
as to any other, that we are indebted for the intelligence, the energy, the 
versatility and prosperity of our people. It is fortunate indeed that where 
nature has placed her richest storehouses she has directed the steps of a people 
worthy of her treasures. In variety and extent of production her forests sur- 
pass any other state. In salt she takes the lead. In copper and iron she stands 
at the head and one almost wonders if the finger of the prophet was not 
pointed toward the Occident when he spoke of that " land whose stones are 
iron and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass." 

Its extensive gardens of berries and vegetables, of celery and peppermint, its 
wide stretches of beautiful farms every year yielding a bountiful harvest, all chal- 
lenge the admiration of every traveler across our State, while its vast orchards of 
peaches stretched along the shores of Lake Michigan stand without a rival in the 
world. In the northeastern quarter, especially in Alpena county, are great plum 
orchards, some of them containing many thousands of trees, whose fruit is abso- 
lutely without blemish and in every respect of the very highest possible degree of 
perfection. Even at Mackinac island, that gem of the northern lakes, this fruit 
grows in abundance, and no exhibit in wax ever showed fewer imperfections. It 
would seem that nothing could prevent this northeast quarter of the State from 
becoming in the near future one vast orchard of plums and apples and pears. 
Perhaps when the feast has been spread for years the enemy may find it out, but 
as yet he has not come and the experimental stage has long been passed. Besides 
sufficient for home consumption, large quantities are shipped for other markets 
every year, while the demand, like that for the potatoes of this northern region, 
refuses to be satisfied. Let the speculative genius figure out if he can how a hun- 
dred acres of land can be made to yield more round dollars with less hard labor 
than when planted to plums in a region where the tree and its fruit attain per- 
fection and the curculio has not come. Let him who contemplates putting a little 
fortune into a pile of brick and mortar in the form of a great bleak mansion stop 
and consider what pleasure, what infinite delight may be his portion in his declin- 
ing years if in close communion with a great orchard yearly loaded with sweet and 
tempting smiles of nature; and let him whose vague unrest might tempt him to 
forsake our shores stop long enough to contemplate the words on the seal of our 
commonwealth, " If thou seekest a beautiful peninsula, behold it here." 



MICHIGAN BY COUNTIES. 



To obtain reliable sketches of each county, the members of the legislature 
were requested to designate some suitable person resident of each county to write 
it up. To secure uniformity in the matter the sketch published in the issue of 
1873 was mailed to the person so designated, together with a circular letter out 
lining the matter to be mentioned. In part of the counties this was well done; 
other persons did not respond and the compiler was forced to gather such facts 
as he could find. 

There are few counties but have some local advantages not generally known 
which could be properly set forth but which are necessarily left out. 

There are numerous locations in the State with superior advantages for certain 
kinds of manufacturing and said locations want the factories, while on the other 
hand there is capital seeking such places, neither knowing of the other; with a 
bare knowledge of facts both might be benefited. This was one of the objects of 
this work. 

Neglecting to improve an opportunity of this kind is "hiding a light under a 
bushel," and those who would be benetited by the act are the losers by the 
neglect Neglecting opportunities cripples enterprise. The press has been a great 
factor in the advancement of the State. Adverse criticism and erroneous state- 
ments made in the early history of the State or territory had much to do with 
stagnating State progress. Immediately after the war of 1812 an act passed con- 
gress giving each soldier a bounty of 160 acres of land, 2,000,000 acres to be 
located in Michigan. An examination was made into the quality of the land and 
in a report made by Edward Tiffin, Surveyor General, to Josiah Meigs, Com- 
missioner General Land Office, November 30, 1815, he said the land was all either 
swamp or barren, sandy land on which nothing would grow. In finishing the 
report he said: "Taking the country altogether so far as has been explored and 
to all appearances, together with information received concurring, the balance is 
as bad; there would not be more than one acre out of a hundred, if there would 
be one out of a thousand, that would in any case admit of cultivation." 
On February 6. 1816, the following message was issued by the president: 

"To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States: 

"It is represented that the lands in Michigan territory, designated by law towards 
satisfying the land bounties promised to the soldiers of the late army, are so 
covered with swamps and lakes, or otherwise unfit for cultivation, that a very 

27 



210 Michigan and its Eesources. 



inconsiderable proportion can be applied to the intended grants. I recommend 
therefore that other lands be designated by congress for the purpose of supply- 
ing the deficiency. 

"JAMES MADISON." 

How much the soldiers would have been wronged we will leave to the farmers 
in southern Michigan. Later statements have been made that the pine timber 
being nearly exhausted the land will be worthless. Now this statement is about 
as far off actual facts as Tiffin and President Madison. The pine timber has been 
slaughtered true enough, but there is more hardwood timber in Michigan than 
any other settled state. The upper part of the lower peninsula is full of it and 
the land that was stripped of timber is developing into excellent farming land. 

Future history will likely record events or dates in Michigan as periods after 
the beginning of the nineteenth century, as the black swamp period, the lum- 
ber period, the iron and copper period, the manufacturing period, and finally the 
farming period. 

ALCONA COUNTY. 

Alcona county was organized in 1869. It is bounded on the north by Alpena, on 
the east by Lake Huron, on the south by Iosco and on the west by Oscoda. It 
has an area of about 720 square miles, and had a population in 1890 of 5,409. 
Harrisville, a town of 593 inhabitants, situated in the eastern part of the county, 
on Lake Huron, is the county seat. The surface of the county is comparatively 
level, with the exception of the townships along the lake shore, which are more or 
less rolling. Swamps are scattered here and there throughout the county, but 
most of them have their origin in springs and can be easily reclaimed. In the 
western portion of the county are found large tracts of sandy land, much of 
which is believed to have a soil suitable for agricultural purposes. 

The county is well watered by the Pine, Au Sable and Hubbard rivers and 
their tributaries, ample water power for all milling purposes being found in a 
number of localities. The soil of the eastern townships is generally a heavy 
clay with a clay subsoil; while that of the " plains " is either a sandy loam or 
a clear sand. The timber consists of white and yellow pine, hemlock, beech, 
maple, cedar, oak and some black birch. The older portions of the county pro- 
duce good crops of winter and spring wheat, oats, barley, etc., in fact few 
counties can show a larger yield to the acre, as wheat has been produced 
yielding an average of 45 bushels to the acre. Peas and all kinds of vegetables 
are also grown in great abundance. The experiments in fruit raising in this 
comparatively new county have been uniformly successful. Young orchards pre- 
sent a thrifty appearance, and the lighter fruits will, no doubt, amply repay 
those who attempt their cultivation. Berries are indigenous to the soil, and as 
a rule yield bountifully. The cost of clearing the heavier timbered lands will 
average about $18 per acre. There are good wood markets at various points, 
$2.50 being the uniform price for cordwood. 

In 1891 there were subject to entry and sale 27,147 acres. A State road runs 
west from Harrisville 36 miles. Lands are accessible by good roads throughout 
the entire county. The climate is equable, the winters beginning about Decem- 
ber 1, and continuing steadily up to March 15. The snowfall averages about 
eight inches in depth, the ground freezing but little. Plowing is usually 
begun by April 1 and seeding by May 1. The schools of the county are 
comparatively few, but are well sustained. The health of the inhabitants has 
been generally good, the invigorating influence of the lake breeze being felt to 
a remarkable extent, particularly during the summer months. Every branch of 
the lumber trade is carried on with success. Labor is in good demand, wages 
ranging from $28 to $.38 per month with board. Improved land can be had at 
prices ranging from $10 to $25 per acre. Unimproved lands are proportionately 
less. A railroad from Standish, on the Mackinac division of the Michigan Cen- 
tral, to Alpena, extends along the eastern border of the county. Harrisville already 
enjoys an extensive lake commerce. Alcona county, with its cheap lands and 



Michigan by Counties. 211 

productive soil, ofifers every inducement to the man with limited means, and a 
good class of immigrants would receive a hearty welcome from its inhabitants. 

ALGER COUNTY 

was organized in 1885 from Schoolcraft. It is bounded on the north by Lake 
Superior, east by Luce and Schoolcraft, south by Schoolcraft and Delta and 
west by Marquette. It has an area of 588,862 acres, being the 12th county in 
size, the 82d in population and 67th in wealth. Au Train, on Bay of same 
name, with population of 284 in 1890, is the county seat. The agricultural 
resources of the county are as yet but little developed, but the crops natural 
to the climate are good. The soil is rich and fruits of various kinds grow in 
abundance. 

There are no navigable rivers; but the county is well watered and drained 
and has its share of inland lakes. It has about seventy-five miles of border on 
Lake Superior besides the border of Grand Island, behind which is the largest 
and best harbor on the lake and which is used as a harbor of refuge. T^iie 
harbor at Grand Marias has been improved by the United States government, 
and is regarded as good. 

The timber is principally beech, maple, birch, elm, pine, hemlock and cedar. 
Most of the pine lands have been lumbered but there remains about 200,000,000 
feet yet standing. Unimproved lands are worth about $4 per acre and there is 
a large amount of this kind of land. There is about 28,400 acres of public 
land subject to sale or entry, besides railroad lands. Lumber, charcoal and 
brownstone are the principal industries of the county although the fishing 
interests at Grand Marias and Au Train are quite extensive. There are saw 
mills at Onoto and Rock River and shingle mills at Shingleton. Brownstone of 
excellent quality is quarried at Rock River and this promises to be the great 
industry, as the showing for fine stone is excellent in several localities. The 
Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railroad passes through the county, giving 
railroad communications and shipping facilities east and west. 

Fish and game are plentiful, deer, fox, wolf and lynx. In inland lakes and 
streams trout, bass, pike, etc., abound. 

There are good local markets for produce raised, good schools and church 
organizations. 

ALLEGAN COUNTY. 

BY .J. F. HENRY, SAUGATUCK. 

Allegan county was organized in 1835. It is bounded on the north by Ottawa 
and Kent, on the south by Van Buren and Kalamazoo, on the east by Barry, 
and on the west by Lake Michigan. It has an area of 828 square miles, divided 
into 24 townships and had a population in 1892 of 38,961. Allegan, an incorpo- 
rated village of about 3,000 inhabitants situated on the Kalamazoo river near the 
geographical center of the county, is the county seat, and the largest town. 
Other thriving villages are Otsego, Plainwell. Wayland, Fennville, Martin, Moline, 
Hopkins, Hamilton, Graafschap, Douglas and Saugatuck. The latter two vil- 
lages, situated near the mouth of the Kalamazoo river, are the only lake ports 
of the county, and a daily line of steamers to Chicago is maintained during the 
season of navigation. This part of the county is becoming quite a summer resort 
for Chicago and Grand Rapids people. Allegan, Otsego, Plainwell, Hamilton and 
other points enjoy the advantages of fine water power and considerable milling 
and manufacturing is done in the county. 

The topography of the county may be described as level and rolling. There 
are several large swamps along the Black and Gun rivers, also smaller tracts of 
marsh land, most of which is reclaimable. 

The county is well watered by the Kalamazoo, Black and Gun rivers and 
numerous little inland lakes. In the eastern part are many flowing wells. 

Almost every variety of soil and some of the finest farms in the State may 
be found in this county. 

The reclaimed swamp lands are well adapted to the raising of celery, onions 
and cabbages. In Clyde township the cultivation of pepperment has proved to 
be profitable. The southern part of the coast line of western Michigan is known 



212 Michigan and its Kesoueces. 

as the " fruit belt," and that portion of it within Allegan county is not excelled 
in the production of peaches, grapes, apples, berries, etc. The great market 
which Chicago atfords and opens up absorbs all the fruit which can be mar- 
keted, and the beautiful orchards and comfortable, not to say elegant, homes, which 
may be seen throughout the fruit belt, bear witness to the fact that fruit 
culture is both pleasant and profitable. In cereals, wheat is the principal crop, 
but large quantities of corn and oats are raised. There are now no lands in 
Allegan county subject to entry. Unimproved hardwood lands from which the 
timber has been taken off are worth from $15 to $30 an acre. Improved farms 
are held at from $25 to $100 per acre, according to location, soil, nature of 
improvements, etc. 

The roads as a general thing are good, and in some parts of the county 
excellent. The climate is salubrious. In summer there are but few days which 
are oppressively hot, and the winters are not severe, the mercury seldom falling 
much below freezing point. 

Churches and school houses are numerous throughout the county and in 1892 
the certificate of Allegan high school admitted to the University of Michigan 
without further examination. 

The Chicago & West Michigan, Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, Grand 
Rapids & Indiana, and Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw railroads traverse the 
county and by lake and rail all productions of the county find a ready market 
in the cities of Chicago, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids and Muskegon. 

ALPENA COUNTY. 

Alpena county was organized in 1857. It is bounded on the north by Presque 
Isle, on the west by Montmorency, on the south by Alcona, and on the east by 
Lake Huron. Alpena, a flourishing city of 11,283 inhabitants, is the county seat. 
It has an area of 540 square miles, and had a population in 1890 of 15,581. The 
surface of the country is gently rolling, and is well watered by Thunder bay and 
Hubbard rivers, also by innumerable springs, brooks and lakes, which abound with 
all varieties of fish, and afford ample water power in many townships. There are 
but few sand plains in this county, but a considerable quantity of swamp land 
may be found, nearly all of which is subject to drainage. The soil in the western 
portion of the county is chiefly a dark loam with clay subsoil; in the eastern por- 
tion it is of a sandy nature, though quite fertile in many localities. The prevail- 
ing varieties of timber are beech, maple, elm, ash, hemlock, and large quantities of 
cedar. Winter wheat, oats, peas and barley are successfully grown. Corn, though 
not a staple product, often yields a large crop. Apples, pears and all varieties of 
plums are grown on every farm, and always find a ready market in Alpena. The 
cost of clearing averages about $20 per acre, and the wood cut brings from $2.50 
to $3.50 per cord. 

There are 22,,j20 acres of land subject to entry or sale. Plenty of desirable 
unimproved lands in the hands of private parties are to be had at prices ranging 
from $2 to $5 per acre. Some of the most valuable lands in the county have been 
pine lands originally. The best farming lands are located three or four miles back 
from the mouth of the rivers, and when improved are held at from $10 to $50 per 
acre. The Alpena and Torch Lake State road leads due west from Alpena, 
through the center of the county. There is also a good local State road system, 
which makes all parts of the county accessible. 

Alpena has about six months of fair weather, three months of steady winter 
and three months of very broken weather in the spring and fall. Snow averages 
about one foot in depth and usually comes by December 1. Farmers begin plow- 
ing by April 1. The schools and churches are in a flourishing condition and the 
intelligence of Alpena county will compare very favorably with any locality in the 
State. The county is remarkably free from malaria and fevers, doubtless owing to 
the influence of the lake on its eastern border. Lumbering is carried on exten- 
sively, and labor is always in good demand. The fishing industry is by no means 
a small one, and a large number of men and boats are annually employed in 
catching and preparing fish for the Detroit and Cleveland markets. There is also 
a large traffic in cedar, used for posts, telegraph poles and railroad ties. 

The road leading northward from Tawas City along the lake shore terminates at 
Alpena, but will eventually be built through Presque Isle to Cheboygan. It has 
been for some years an important lake port, vessels of every description being found 



Michigan by Counties. 213 

in its harbor during the summer season, and there is no doubt but that the county 
will at once feel the impetus given it by this double outlet. 

ANTRIM COUNTY. 

Antrim county is situated on the east side of Grand Traverse bay and embraces 
sixteen townships lying in towns 29, 30, 31 and 32 north, in ranges 5, 6, 7, 8 and 
9 west, and has an area of 581 square miles. 

It is bounded on the north by Charlevoix county, on the east by Otsego, on 
the south by Kalkaska and Grand Traverse and on the west by Grand Traverse 
bay. 

Antrim county was first settlied by the whites in 1848, by Abram S. "Wads- 
worth at the mouth of Elk river near the southwest corner of the county. 

It was first organized as the township of Antrim, Grand Traverse county, in 
1853. This name was changed to Megezee and then to Elk Rapids. 

The county of Antrim was organized in the spring of 1863 and the first 
county election was held on the 6th day of April, 1863. The highest number 
of votes cast for any officer was 66. Bellaire, the county seat, is situated near 
the geographical center of the county and was first settled in 1879. It is pleas- 
antly situated on the Intermediate river and has an excellent water power 
which is owned by Richardi & Bechtold, who have extensive woodenware works 
here. 

Elk Rapids is situated at the mouth of Elk river, which is the outlet of the 
chain of lakes that traverse the county from northeast to southwest. It was 
originally the county seat, and is pleasantly located on the east arm of Trav- 
erse bay, and the most famous place in the United States for black bass fishing. 
Here are located the immense smelting works of the Elk Rapids iron company, 
and the Elk Rapids chemical works are the most extensive of any of the kind 
in the world. It has excellent school and church advantages and is one of the 
most delightful summer resorts in Northern Michigan. 

Mancelona is situated in the southern part of the covinty on the Grand Rapids 
& Indiana railroad, and is a thriving manufacturing town, having extensive 
woodenware factories and the Antrim iron works. 

There are now two railroads running through the county from north to south, 
to wit: The Grand Rapids & Indiana and the Chicago & West Michigan with a 
branch of the Chicago & West Michigan running to Elk Rapids. 

The general surface of the county is rolling and in the northeastern portion 
it gets somewhat hilly. The soil is generally a sandy loam containing a large 
amount of lime with a clay soil in some localities. The timber contains a large 
variety, sugar maple, beech, elm, cedar and hemlock predominating. 

The cereals yield very well, and for roots and vegetables the county is unsur- 
passed by any county in the State. In the western part of the county all 
kinds of northern fruit are a sure crop, apples, plums and pears producing very 
abundantly, grapes and peaches doing well in some localities. 

The water of the inland lakes is of rare purity and abound in the finest of 
fish. 

The climate is very mild, the ground seldom freezing in the winter, the snow 
falling early protects the winter wheat from the freezing and thawing that 
proves so destructive to winter wheat further south. The climate is free from 
malaria and bilious diseases are very rare. 

During the season of navigation steamers and sailing vessels are constantly 
plying between Elk Rapids, Torch Lake and all lake ports. Roads are now 
getting good throughout the county and school advantages are unsurpassed by 
the older counties of the State. 

Taking all things into consideration there is no better field for the merchant, 
manufacturer or farmer than Antrim county offers. 

ARENAC COUNTY. 

Arenac county was organized in April, 1883. It had a population of 5,683 in 
1890, and has an area of 234,998 acres, with 1,035 acres subject to entry or sale. 
Lumber, farm products and fish are the chief products, and manufacturing is 
carried on to some extent. 

Arenac is bounded on the north by Ogemaw and Iosco counties, on the east 



214 Michigan and its Kesources. 

and south by Saginaw bay, and on the west by Gladwin county. Standish, a nice 
village of about 1,500 inhabitants, is the county seat. The Michigan Central rail- 
road affords the chief means of transportation. 

BARAGA COUNTY. 

Baraga county was organized in 1875. It was taken from Houghton, and is bounded 
on the north by Houghton and Lake Superior, on the east and south by Mar- 
quette, and on the west by Houghton and Sturgeon river. L'Anse, a town of 
1.500 inhabitants, is the county seat. It has an area of 900 square miles, and 
had a population in 1890 of 3,036. The surface of the country is generally undu- 
lating, although some level land is found in the Sturgeon Bay valley and in 
the southeastern townships. 

The county is well watered by a number of streams, the Sturgeon river, on 
the western side, being the largest river in the upper peninsula. Ample water 
power is afforded by several of these streams. Nearly every variety of soil is 
found, the valley lands being particularly rich. The subsoil in most parts con- 
sists of gravel, sand and clay, underneath which can be found either slate rock 
or sandstone. The timber consists of sugar maple, pine, hemlock, birch, cedar, 
spruce balsam and Norway pine. Some wheat is raised, but the principal crops 
are hay, oats, potatoes, beans and garden vegetables, all of which find a ready mar- 
ket. Fruit growing is in its infancy, yet several varieties of apples and cherries 
are grown successfully. Clearing costs about $15 per acre. Hardwood brings from 
$3 to $4 per cord; softwood about §2. Farmers do not plow for the first crop. 

There are 34.346 acres subject to entry or sale. Many of these lands are desir- 
able for agricultural purposes, and can be had at prices ranging from $1.50 to $5 
per acre. Three State roads lead out from L'Anse in different directions, render- 
ing all parts of the county accessible. Snow falls in November and leaves about 
April 1. The winters are very steady and the climate may be said to be excep- 
tionally fine. Farmers commence work about the 1st of May. Free schools are 
open ten months in the year. 

A number of iron mines are in constant operation, and stone and slate quarries 
are being successfully developed. These, with the lumbering and fishing industries, 
cause a demand for labor at all times, which is often hard to supply. The Duluth. 
South Shore and Atlantic railroad crosses the county, also the Houghton branch 
passes through L'Anse. Railroads are projected which, with the excellent water 
communication (there being eighty miles of sea coast), will very materially aid the 
eommercial enterprises of this new and rapidly developing county. 

BARRY COUNTY. 

BY M. L. COOK, HASTINGS, MICH. 

Barry county was organized in 1839. It is bounded on the north by Kent 
and Ionia, on the east by Eaton, on the south by Calhoun and Kalamazoo, and 
on the west by Allegan. It has an area of 576 square miles, and a population 
in 1890 of 23,783. Hastings, a thriving and prosperous city of 3,500 people, is 
the county seat, where the county has just finished a beautiful court house and 
county jail at an expense of $75,000. 

The surface is generally rolling, with occasional level tracts, but all parts of 
the county are tillable. It is watered mainly by the Thornapple river, a stream 
of considerable importance, affording several good water power privileges. Numer- 
our small streams flow into the Thornapple. There are many picturesque and 
beautiful lakes, affording splendid opportunities for boating and fishing, some of 
them destined to be favorite resorts. The soil of ten townships is clay, with a 
gravel mixture. In the other six, the soil is more or less sandy, with clay 
subsoil. 

Bari'y county can still boast of considerable hardwood timber, and lumbering 
is usually active in winter. Agriculture is the pursuit of the great majority of 
its inhabitants, and no county in Michigan can raise better wheat than this. 
While wheat is the staple, corn, oats, potatoes, beans and barley are success- 
fully raised. Plenty of grasses are raised in all sections of the county, particu- 
larly on the heavy timbered lands of the eastern and northern portions. 



Michigan by Counties. 215 

Desirable farm lands can be purchased from $20 to $70 per acre, according to 
location and condition. 

Like most counties, Barry county needs good roads. The old system of spring 
plowing and fall scraping of highways has not been known to make good roads 
in Barry or any other county. The county will average with its neighbors in 
the matter of roads, which is not the most complimentary thing to be said on 
the subject. 

Barry has the usual climate of the southern tiers of counties in Michigan. 

No county in Michigan takes more pride in her schools. The county is peopled 
almost wholly by native Americans, who value the school house and the church, 
and prize good citizenship, which can come only from the educated citizen. 
There are 150 school districts in the county, and 153 school buildings. There are 
over fifty church buildings in the county. 

Two railroads traverse the county, the Grand Rapids branch of the Michigan 
Central from east to west, and the Chicago, Kalamazoo & Saginaw from south- 
west to northeast. Besides these, the Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw and the 
Detroit, Lansing & Northern touch the county at the southwestern and north- 
eastern corners respectively. These roads open up the county excellently, and 
place shipping facilities within easy reach of all. 

While agriculture is the principal pursuit, manufacturing interests are becom- 
ing quite important in Barry county, especially at Hastings, which has the only 
whip factory in Michigan, and the largest wool boot factory in the world. 

BAY COUNTY. 

BY W. R. M'CORMICK, BAY CITY. 

Bay county was organized in 1857. It is bounded on the north by Arenac, on 
the east by Tuscola, and Saginaw bay, on the south by Saginaw, and on the west 
by Midland and Gladwin. It has an area of 1.008 square miles and has a population 
of about 01,000. 

The county has 67 miles of excellent stone roads and more are being built. 
These run in various directions to the farming districts from Bay City, the county 
seat. The county is level, with the exception of that part of the county north of 
Lincoln and Standish counties, which is slightly rolling. Although there is a large 
extent of coast line and many rivers flowing into the bay, there are but few water 
powers, and those are somewhat limited in capacity. The soil is a deep, rich loam 
with a clay sub-soil mixed with limestone. Oak, elm, basswood, ash, beech, maple 
and hemlock comprise the principal varieties of timber. The county is noted for 
its wheat. Hay, oats and corn are also extensively raised. Apples are grown in 
abundance. The fruit buds are retarded by the cool lake winds and thus escape 
the early frosts. The smaller fruits are a more uncertain crop, although grapes of 
the hardier varieties do well along the shore. 

The cost of clearing averages $20 per acre, and the wood cut finds a ready mar- 
ket at a fair price. Good farms and homes in towns can be bought on easy terms. 
There are large tracts of timbered laud, suitable for agricultural purposes, which 
can be had at prices ranging from $8 to $10 per acre. They are generally within 
easy reach of railroad towns. The climate is a variable one. Snow falls by 
December 1 and averages about one foot in depth during the season. The ground 
generally freezes from one to two feet in depth, hence farmers begin work about 
ten days later than in southern Michigan. 

The privileges incident to schools and churches are unexcelled, the public schools 
of Bay City being especially fine. 

All sorts of enterprises are engaged in successfully. Lumbering, manufacturing, 
fishing and ship building is carried on very extensively, over two thousand men 
being employed in the ship yards. The largest pail and tub factory in the world 
is located in Bay City. They also have the Water Pipe Company and the Crystal 
water works, bicycle factory, industrial works, planing mills, sash and door factories, 
saw mills and salt works. 

Common labor is always in good demand, wages ranging from $19 to $30 per 
month, with board. The county is spending a large amount of money in macada- 
mizing the principal thoroughfares of the county, and every portion of it can be 
readily reached by railroads, water or good roads. 

The Flint & Pere Marquette, Michigan Central. Detroit & Bay City, the Cia- 



216 Michigan and its Eesources. 

cinnati, Saginaw & Muskegon and the Grand Trunk railroads aiford excellent 
outlets for all of the productions of the county. 

Bay City is an important lake port, the largest vessels entering its harbor during 
the seasons for navigation. 

BENZIE COUNTY. 

Benzie county was organized in 1869. It is bounded on the north by Leelenau 
and Lake Michigan, on the east by Grand Traverse, on the south by Manistee and 
on the west by Lake Michigan. It has an area of 350 square miles, and had a 
population in 1890 of 5,237. Benzonia, a growing town of about 500 inhabitants, 
situated on Crystal lake, is the county seat. A strip of country about ten miles 
in width along the lake shore is of a hilly character, and is not as desirable for 
farming purposes as the land farther east, which is comparatively level, and is 
remarkably productive. The county is watered by two small streams running 
through it from east to west, also by several small inland lakes. A sandy, gravelly 
soil predominates, but there are large tracts containing clay, and on some farms 
the soil is little else than clay; on others it is a sandy loam, warm and highly 
productive. The sugar maple, elm, basswood, beech, birch, white oak, hemlock and 
cherry constitute the prevailing varieties of timber. 

The soil seems well adapted to all root crops. Potatoes grow to the greatest 
perfection, and clover does remarkably well. In good seasons wheat and corn do 
well, although the lack of rains has caused some difficulty for a few years past, 
owing to the fact that the ground leaches rapidly. The ten-mile belt referred to 
above produces splendid fruit, and in fact the whole northern part of the county 
may be said to be a fruit growing district. Peaches, pears, apples, plums, grapes, 
cherries and berries of all kinds grow in profusion. Peaches have grown for 
twenty years without interruption. 

The cost of clearing averages about $15 per acre, and wood finds a ready market 
in several localities. There are 5,630 acres of land subject to sale or entry. Good 
agricultural lands, well timbered, can be had at from S3 to S15 per acre. 

Two State roads pass through the county, one from Manistee along the lake 
shore to Frankfort and Leland, and the other from Manistee to Traverse City, 
passing through Benzonia, Garfield, Almira and Homestead. 

The climate is a very desirable one, the seasons following each other without 
the marked variations in temperature found in counties further south. The 
ground does not freeze and plowing begins in April. The average depth of snow 
is two feet. 

The schools are vei-y good, and a college at Benzonia prepares teachers for the 
common and graded schools. 

There is a constant demand for labor, owing to the development of so many 
industries incident to a timbered country. Several lines of steamers touch at 
Frankfort, affording an outlet for the products of the county. A large iron fur- 
nace near Frankfort creats a steady demand for harwood, and employs a large 
number of men. The Frankfort & Southeastern, the Manistee & Northeastern and 
Chicago and West Michigan railroads pass through the county. 

BERRIEN COUNTY. 
BY HENRY CHAMBERLAIN, THREE OAKS. 

Berrien is the southwest county of the State. Its western boundary is Lake 
Michigan. Its principal rivers are the St. Joseph, Paw Paw, Dowagiac and 
Galien, with many minor streams. All of these streams furnish water power of 
great volume, about one-half of which is unimproved. All parts of the county 
are within seventy-five miles of Chicago, which is reached by two railroads and 
by vessels from the mouth of the St. Joseph river. The Michigan Central, Chi- 
cago & West Michigan, the Vandalia and the Wabash & Michigan railroads 
pass through the county. There are but few farms which are more than eight 
miles from a railroad station. 

The county is generally level or gently rolling with no broken land except 
along the banks of the larger streams and Lake Michigan. The larger part of 
the soil is a rich gravelly or sandy loam; parts of six townships are clay or 
clay loam. A narrow strip along Lake Michigan is a thin, sandy soil. There are 



Michigan by Counties. 217 

many small lakes and quite a number of marshes in the county. Some of the 
marshes have but little value except for pasture or wild hay; but many have 
great value for the production of celery, peppei-mint, onions, cabbage, potatoes 
and other vegetables. 

The principal products of the county are wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley, pota- 
toes and hay, with a fair amovint of butter and cheese. The lands are all 
valuable for hay and pastui-e, and sheep and cattle are raised and fed for 
market. 

All parts of the county grow apples, pears, quinces and grapes. ' The " fruit 
belt" on the lake shore grows peaches and the small fruits in large quantities. 

A. very large portion of the county was originally covered with heavy timber, 
beech, maple, walnut, hickory, ash, whitewood, elm, basswood and oak, much of 
it very valuable. A smaller part was openings upon which grew white, yellow, 
black and burr oak and hickory. There are a number of small prairies in the 
county. The lands are all now cleared, except small tracts connected with farms, 
kept for fuel and fencing. There is but little unimproved land in the county. 
The improved lands are held at from $30 to $125 dollars per acre for farm 
purposes; fruit lands $30 to $500 per acre. 

The manufactures are wood pulp and paper, flour and meal, furniture, agri- 
cultural implements, machinery, etc. 

Niles. Benton Harbor and St. Joseph are the cities. Buchanan, Berrien Springs, 
Three Oaks and Watervliet are the larger villages, with twenty or more other 
villages and hamlets with from 50 to 600 inhabitants. 

The lake fisheries are principally located at St. Joseph, from the mouth of 
which river there is a large vessel interest. 

The markets are the cities and villages of the county, Chicago and the world. 

There is a school and school house in every rural district and a graded or 
high school in every city or village. Churches and church edifices are numerous 
enough to enable all the people to attend churches of their own faith. Wages 
of farm labor are $15 to $30 per month and board; common labor, $1 to $1.50 
per day; skilled labor, $2 to $.3.50 per day. There are fish in most of the lakes 
and streams. The larger game is all gone, and ducks, quail and squirrels are not 
at all abundant. There are no stone quarries or mineral lands in the county. 

BRANCH COUNTY. 

BY DWIGHT E. YOUNGS, UNION CITY. 

Branch county's first permanent settler located where is now the village of 
Bronson in 1828. He was followed the next year by some who located at Girard 
and Coldwater. The county was formed by an act passed by the legislative coun- 
cil October 29. 1829, and named for Hon. John Branch, of North Carolina, Presi- 
dent Jackson's Secretary of the Navy, but was associated with several other 
counties, known as the township of Green, until 1833, when, having about 70 voters, 
the county commenced its independent existence. It is bounded north by Calhoun, 
east by Hillsdale, south by Indiana and west by St. Joseph. It has an area of 
516 square miles. Population, 1890, was 26,791. Coldwater, the county seat, with 
5,247 inhabitants, was platted as a village in 1832, organizirfg with a charter, 1837. 
The years from 1831 to 1837 witnessed the advent of large numbers of permanent 
settlers in all parts of the county. Union City was platted in 1835 as Goodwins- 
ville. Quincy had an existence as a little more than a country four corners until 
the advent of the railroad, but was incorporated in 1858; since then its growth has 
been rapid. Bronson was incorporated in 1866 and given the name of its first 
settler, who was Jabe Bronson, but a portion of its area was platted in 1833, as 
York. Sherwood, a lively little town on the Air Line railroad, has grown up since 
the building of that road, was platted while it was being graded. 

The surface of the county is generally level, although a small portion is gently 
rolling, no hills. There are four streams passing through parts of the county, all, 
however, uniting their waters with the St. Joseph at Union City, which passes 
through the county in a southwesterly direction. About three-fifths of the county 
has a soil of a sandy or gravelly loam with a hard subsoil, the remainder a heavy 
clay especially adapted to grazing and stock raising. 

The timber on the heavy soil was principally beech and maple, many maple 
orchards being retained to the present. There is also an abundance of ash. elm, 
basswood, with some cherry, black walnut and butternut, while on the lighter soil 

28 



218 Michigan and its Eesources. 

oak and hickory are found. Wheat, oats, corn and potatoes are extensively raised. 
Stock raising is receiving much attention, especially the finer breeds of horses and 
sheep. Of fruits, apples are extensively grown, as are all the small fruits, but 
peaches, owing to an occasional severe winter, are a failure in late years. 

The land is mostly improved, a few tracts being left, for the timber is more 
valuable than that improved, which is valued from S20 to 8125 per acre, according 
to location and buildings. Winter usually' commences about December 20, lasting 
until March. Two or three exceptional years have given winter from the middle 
of November to the 10th of April. Crops are good with few exceptions in the past 
55 years. May 1 generally furnishes an abundance of new feed for stock. 

The best of water is supplied from wells, 15 to 45 feet in depth. For soft water 
cisterns are required. 

The system of drainage adopted to dispose of any surplus water has made the 
county as healthy a region as anywhere found. Ague and fever being practically 
banished, leaves the principal diseases, such as are at times epidemic among 
children in all localities. Very many of the early settlers lived to pass fourscore 
years, a few fourscore and ten. 

Branch cbunty may be justly proud of her religious and educational advan- 
tages. There are large and commodious school buildings in the principal vil- 
lages, while the country districts are supplied with neat and comfortable structures. 
Every village has churches for the different denominations, and many country 
four corners are supplied with the same. 

Manufacturing is carried on quite extensively in the larger towns. Many 
inducements are held out to draw such industries to the villages, now largely 
dependent on the farming country around for support. 

The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad main line passes through 
Quincy, Coldwater, Batavia, a corner of Bethel and Bronson, while the Air Line 
of the Michigan Central passes through Union and Sherwood, the Fort Wayne, 
Jackson & Saginaw nearly touching the southeast corner of the county. 

There are a number of beautiful inland lakes, one near the village of Quincy 
which has been connected with others to the south and west by means of a 
canal, with a view to navigation through a string of lakes to Orland, Ind., a 
distance of about forty miles. 

A beautiful sheet of water eight miles south of Coldwater, through which 
the Coldwater river flows, giving it its name, is about six miles by one and a 
half in extent, in which is an island of 40 acres, is utilized as a summer resort 
by residents of the county. Cottages have been erected on its shores, to which 
they migrate during the heat of summer. Another similar resort is located 
about three miles north of the city on a lake provided with a small excursion 
steamboat to accommodate picnic and pleasure parties. 

In the early days before the advent of steam in the State, the St. Joseph river 
was deemed a navigable stream and Union City the head of navigation, but its 
waters have never been turned to account for this purpose. 

CALHOUN COUNTY. 

Calhoun county was organized in 1833. It is bounded on the north by Barry 
and Eaton, on the east by Jackson, on the south by Branch and Hillsdale and 
on the west by Kalamazoo. Marshall, a city of 3,968 inhabitants, is the county 
seat. The surface of the county has an area of 720 square miles, and had a popu- 
lation in 1890 of 43,501. The surface of the county is gently rolling. The Kalama- 
zoo river crosses the county from east to west, affording a number of water powers. 
There are several flouring mills in the county which are run by water. The 
county is otherwise well watered by a number of small streams. Nearly every 
variety of soil is found, a light, sandy loam characterizing some townships, and a 
strong clay others. A good clay subsoil generally underlies the surface at a proper 
depth. 

Oak is the principal variety of timber, although there is some beech, maple, 
whitewood, elm and walnut. Wheat and corn are extensively raised. The soil pro- 
duces wonderfully well, though of a light appearance in localities. Garden vegeta- 
bles of every variety grow abundantly with little care. Apples are the principal 
fruit crop, though peaches and pears are raised to a limited extent. The smaller 
fruits are successfully grown in every township. 

The timber on any available tract would pay for the clearing, as there is a good 
market for wood. ' There are no government or state lauds on the market. 



Michigan by Counties. 219 

Improved lands are held at from S25 to $100 per acre. The unimproved lands are 
generally attached to improved farms and are not for sale. The seasons are well 
defined, snow i"arely falling out of the winter months. The ground freezes to a 
moderate depth and spring work begins early in April. 

The county schools are excellent and those of the larger towns are among the 
best in the State. 

Agriculture is the principal industry, although large manufacturing interests are 
centered at Battle Creek and Albion. Labor is in fair demand particularly in the 
summer season, wages ranging 816 to $25 per month, with board. 

The Michigan Central railroad main line, its Air Line, the Chicago & Grand 
Trunk, and the Lansing branch of the Michigan Southern, traverse the county. 

Calhoun is one of the wealthiest counties in the State, being seventh in wealth, 
being equalized at $30,000,000, and is a very desirable county in which to locate, 
taking into consideration all of its resources and advantages. Albion College, a 
denominational institution under the control of the Methodists, is lo3ated at Albion, 
and has a large pupilage. 

CASS COUNTY. 
BY MRS. AGUSTUS JEWELL, OF DOWAGIAC. 

Cass county was organized in 1829. It is situated in the beautiful St. Joseph 
valley, the scene of J. Fennimore Cooper's "Oak Openings " or " Bee Hunters," and 
was named in honor of Lewis Cass, who was governor of Michigan from 1813 to 
18.30. It is bounded on the north by Van Buren county, east by St. Joseph county, 
south by the State of Indiana and. west by Berrien county. Contains 314,584 acres 
of land with a population of 20,953 in 1890. 

Pre-historic remains are to be found through the county consisting of mounds 
and garden beds. The surface of the county, like all Michigan, is composed entirely 
of drift. A mass of debris, consisting of loose stones, gravel and sand, probably 
several hundred feet in thickness. It is gently undulating, thereby furnishing 
excellent surface drainage, making it healthful, and with the purest of water keeping 
it free from epidemics of any kind. The leading features may be classed under 
the headings of heavy timbered lands, oak openings and prairies. Three distinct 
varieties of soil are to be found, in these divisions: on the heavily timbered, gravely 
soil mixed with sand or clay; oak openings, a sandy loam; while that of the prairie 
is a black, sticky, soft soil, the richest and best in the county. A clay and gravely 
subsoil is usually underlying all. It is beautified and well watered with its 180 lakes 
and ponds, whose shores are skirted with beautiful farms alternating with primeval 
forests coming down to their very margins as when none other than the bark canoe 
skimmed the surface of their pure waters, thereby affording many beautiful summer 
resorts, and there are a number of small streams furnishing good water power. Fish 
abound plentifully in all the lakes and streams, and small wild game is in limited 
supply in the timbered tracts. The timber is mainly oak, hickory, beech, maple, ash 
elm, whitewood and basswood. Wheat, corn, hay, oats, barley, rye. and potatoes are 
the usual crops, and the soil is unsurpassed for the production of all cereals raised in 
the latitude, while hogs, sheep and cattle form no small part of its agricultural 
interests. Nearly all kinds of fruit and vegetables do well, a fair proportion of 
which are shipped. , 

There are no public lands of any description in the market. Snow falls the first of 
December and averages ten to twelve inches in depth. The season for plowing 
usually commences about the last of March. Labor is in fair demand, its manufact- 
uring and agricultural interests employing several hundred hands. Wages on farms 
range from $16 to $25 per month, with board. School and church privileges are 
unsurpassed. The Michigan Central main line, its Air Line, the Cincinnati, 
Wabash & Michigan, and the Chicago & Grand Trunk railroads pass through the 
county, placing every township within easy reach of both eastern and western 
markets. Eight papers are published within the county, seven weekly and one 
monthly and has twenty-four postoffices. 

A peculiar feature is attached to Calvin township in this county, not to be found in 
any other township in the State, that of a preponderance of colored people who far 
outnumber the white population. The primal cause of this condition was the 
residence here of a society of Friends who extended helping hands to trembling 
fugitive slaves as early as 1836, who soon became land owners and are among the 
thrifty population. 



220 Michigan and its Eesoueces. 

CaBsopolis, situated on the bank of Stone lake, a half a mile distant from the 
beautiful Diamond lake, is the county seat with a population of 1,500 with two 
railroads, the Michigan Central air line and the Chicago & Grand Trunk, its 
manufacturing interests consisting of a bowl factory, foundry, saw and flouring mills. 
Dowagiac, situated on the Michigan Central main line, and commercially one of its 
most important stations, is in the northern part of the county, one hundred miles 
east of Chicago, has a population of 3,500. With the manufacturing industries of 
the famous "Round Oak"' stoves. Dowagiac shoe grain drills, chair factory, marble 
works, sand bands, washing machines, saw and flouring mills, sash and door factory, 
planing mills and many other minor industries. The city contains the finest opera 
house in America for a town of its size, the "Beckwith Memorial Building,'" and 
with its thirteen miles of cement walks, well kept streets and homes, with its system 
of water works, supplied directly from artesian wells, and electric lights, its literary 
and musical societies and fine public library, all corroborate the unanimous state- 
ments of commercial travelers that it is the thriftiest, neatest and most attractive 
town of its size in the country and will bear the most thorough investigation if in 
pursuit of a place that combines rare advantages for business and a home. 

CHARLEVOIX COUNTY. 

Clarlevoix county was organized in 1869. It is bounded on the north by Emmet 
and Lake Michigan, on the east by Cheboygan and Otsego, on the south by Antrim, 
and on the west by Lake Michigan. It has an area of 396 square miles, and had a 
population in 1890 of 9,686. Charlevoix, a flourishing village of 1,500 inhabitants, sit- 
uated on Lake Michigan, is the county seat. The surface of the county is everywhere 
rolling, and in some parts decidedly hilly. The county is well watered. Pine lake, 
a beautiful sheet of water, stretching 14 miles in an easterly direction from Charlevoix 
village. Six miles from Charlevoix, a branch of the lake runs in a southerly direction 
eight miles. The branch is fed by the famous trout fishing stream, the Jordan. The 
Boyne flows in at the east end of the lake, and the county generally is covered with 
innumerable spring brooks of the coldest water. There is some available water power, 
particularly on the Jordan and Boyne rivers. The soil varies from a light sandy to 
a heavy clay, filled with calcareous matter. The subsoil is of as varied a nature as 
that of the surface. 

Sugar maple, elm, beech, basswood, ash, hemlock, and cedar timber is found in 
great quantities throughout the county. 

The principal crops are winter wheat, oats corn, hay, clover, potatoes, and root crops. 
The summer resorts at Charlevoix furnish an excellent market for all sorts of garden 
vegetables. 

All fruits do well, excepting grapes and peaches. The hardier kind of apples are 
especially successful. Charlevoix county is at the northern extremity of the cele 
brated Michigan fruit belt. The cost of clearing averages $20 per acre, although the 
wood produced generally pays for the clearing. 

There are no government lands in the market. There are 3,070 acres of land subject 
to entry or sale. 

Unimproved lands are held at from $7 to SIO per acre, while improved farms average 
from $15 to $60, in the interior, and from $25 to $100 near Charlevoix. There is a State 
road from Traverse City to Petoskey, which crosses the county. There are a number 
of wagon roads traversing the county, most of which are new, but are steadily improv- 
ing. There are also several tramroads built through belts of hardwood timber which 
facilitate travel. Much of the travel in summer is by water. The winter is very 
steady, snow falling by November 15. and lasting five months. The summer season is 
delightful, and the county is a great resort for invalids afflicted with asthmatic diffi- 
culties. The schools are very creditable for a new county. 

As Pine lake is navigable for large vessels, the timber business is an important 
enterprise in this county. Wood, ties, fence posts, hemlock bark and logs are cut dur- 
ing the winter, and are shipped during the summer to Chicago, Milwaukee, Racine, 
and other lake ports. There are several saw mills in the county. An iron furnace at 
Ironton, on Pine lake, furnishes employment to a large number of men. The fishing 
industry is also a considerable one. 

The Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad passes through Charlevoix. 

The famous resorts on Pine lake have contributed largely to the development of 
the county, and are thronged every summer with admirers of the beautiful scenery and 
delightful climate of Charlevoix covinty. 



Michigan by Counties. 221 

CHEBOYGAN COUNTY. 

BY EDWARD FORSYTH, OF CHEBOYGAN. 

Cheboygan county was organized in 1853. It is bounded on the north by Lake 
Huron and the Straits of Mackinaw, on the east by Lake Huron and Presque 
Isle county, on the south by Otsego and Montmorency, and on the west by 
Emmet and Charlevoix. Cheboygan, a rapidly growing town of 7,000 inhabitants, 
is the county seat. It is a live port, with all modern improvements, sewers, 
paved streets, street cars, electric lights, S40.000 opera house, splendid schools 
and churches. The covinty has an area of 792 square miles and had a popula- 
tion in 1890 of 11,145. The surface of the county is greatly diversified, level 
plains being found in some localities and rolling land in others, the hills on the 
borders of the lake sometimes rising to a height of 200 feet. It is watered by 
the Rainy, Black, Pigeon, Cheboygan and Maple rivers, also by Cheboygan, Black, 
Mullet, Burt aud Douglass lakes. Several of these rivers and lakes are navi- 
gable, affording excellent opportunities for transportation of wood, bark, etc., 
and the rafting of logs. The streams furnish good water power in various places, 
and are alive with tish. The shores of these lakes are rapidly becoming popular 
summer resorts, which furnish splendid markets for all kinds of farm produce, 
butter, eggs, vegetables, milk, cheese, berries, etc., from June until October, at 
city prices. The region is a hay fever sanitarium, which keeps the resorts open 
until frost comes. Among these resorts are Topinabee, Dodge's Point and Koehler's 
on Mullett lake. Columbus Landing and Columbus Beach on Burt lake, Roose 
it Grace's hotel on Long lake, besides other resorts on Douglass, Black and 
Carp lakes. The soil is composed of red clay in some portions and sand and 
clay loam in others, generally rich and productive. The timber consists of maple, 
beech, pine, cedar, hemlock,' poplar, elm and basswood. The principal crops are 
wheat, corn, oats, hay, potatoes and vegetables, all of which are successfully 
grown. Apples, plums, cherries and berries do well, but peaches and pears are 
not as successful. The wild berry crop nets $10,000 to S15.000 a year. Straw- 
berries, huckleberries, raspberries and blackberries grow wild in abundance. 
Market now exists for every stick of timber grown in the county. Dozens of 
little hardwood mills exist all over the county, while a big tannery at Cheboy- 
gan consumes 20,000 cords of hemlock bark a year and a stave mill uses up 
from 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 of elm annually. All kinds of wood is in demand in 
the log, or as ties, posts, bark, cordwood or pulp wood and brings from $2.50 
per thousand feet for basswood to 88.50 for elm and S50 for curly maple. Cord^- 
wood sells green at from $1.25 to 81.75 and dry for 82 a cord. There are 27,525 
acres of public land subject to sale or entry beside railroad land claims. Gov- 
ernment land for entry only can be had by application to United States land 
office at Grayling. State land can be bought or entered at State land office, 
Lansing. Improved farms, individual lands, can be had at reasonable prices, 
sometimes far below actual value. 

A State road runs from Cheboygan to Petoskey and one from Cheboygan to 
Rogers City. Other roads of more recent construction cross the county in all 
directions and more are being built as the progress of the county demands, and 
for nine months in the year they are excellent. They are being rapidly improved 
and new roads opened. Snow usu.'dly falls about November 15. The average 
depth attained during the winter may be said to be about twenty inches. The 
ground seldom freezes and spring vork commences early in May. Grass is king; 
one acre will support as much life as the best blue grass land of Kentucky. 
The schools of the county are numerous and of the best kind, with a competent 
county commissioner in charge and the people show great enterprise in building 
new school houses as fast as necessary. The county is, in the main, free from 
malaria. The great changes in temperature cause some rheumatic complaints, but 
as a rule, the county is very healthy. The lumbering interests are very extensive, 
employing at remunerative wages a great many men. Besides this industry, there 
is in Cheboygan a big tannery employing, all told. 250 to 300 hands the year round; 
a 125-barrel flouring mill and one of fifty barrels capacity, three foundries, three 
planing mills, electric lights, ship yards, etc., and as fast as land can be cleared 
new farms are being developed, which add yearly to the wealth and resources of 
the county. Fishing is also extensively engaged in. Labor is always in good 
demand. 



222 



Michigan and its Resources. 



The Michigan Central railroad (Mackinaw division) passes through Cheboygan, 
and the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena railroad will reach the southern borders of 
the county before snow flies, and will go north to the straits next year, opening- 
up a magnificent railroad region. Lake vessels of the largest size enter its two 
harbors, one of which is in Cheboygan and the other at Duncan City, a mile 
distant. 



CHIPPEWA COUNTY. 



BY C. H. CHAPMAN, SAULT STE MAEIE. 




Chippewa county was organized in 1826, ten 
years before Michigan was admitted into the union a& 
a State, and embraced nearly the entire upper penin- 
sula of Michigan, all of the north part of Wisconsin 
and all of the north part of Minnesota east of the Mis- 
sissippi river. It has been reduced from time to time 
until now it is bounded on the north and east by the 
St. Mary's river and Lake Superior, on the south by 
Mackinac and Lake Huron, and on the west by Mack- 
inac and Luce counties. It is the second county in 
size in the State and has a total of 995,225 acres. The 
population in 1880 was 5,248, and in 1890 had 
increased to 12,019, an increase of 129.02 per cent, 
not including the county of Luce, organized out of 
this territory during this period. In 1891 this county 
contained 17,4.30 acres of improved farm land and 
38,978 acres in farms partially improved. The aver- 
age number of acres in each farm in the county was. 
131.49. The assessed valuation as equalized in 1890 
was §5,000,000. The county now contains public lands 
coLKT HOutsE. subject to sale or entry, 121,009 acres; homes of 80' 

acres each for 1,512 families. Its population is largely of the best class of Canadians. 
Sault Ste. Marie, a city of 8,000 inhabitants, is the county seat. This city is located on 
the St. Mary's river at a point where the government canal around the rapids was. 
constructed. It has three trunk lines of railroads and other lines are pushing in this 
direction. The river is spanned by the great international bridge at this point, mak- 
ing a short rail route between the Atlantic states and the great west. 

The surface of this county is gently rolling. In the northern portion of the county 
there is considerable sandy land, also a few cedar swamps which are easily drained. 
The eastern portion, particularly that lying south of Sault Ste. Marie, comprising also 
a part of what are now known as the '• burnt lands," is a very desirable agricultural 
region, the soil being a deep red clay, which is easily worked, and, after exposure to the 
atmosphere, pulverizes, and is not liable to become sun-baked or cracked. The soil is 
peculiarly adapted to the raising of peas, and the entire absence of bugs makes the 
crops much sought after by seedsmen. A small portion of the middle part of the- 
county has a light sandy soil, timbered with scattering pine, and surrounded by fine 
bodies of hardwood land with a rich, sandy-loam soil. The western portion is timbered 
with pine of a good quality. There are also large tracts of choice hardwood land 
interspersed with, scattering pine. The southern portion of the western part of the 
county is the valley of the Tahquamenon. The timber is cedar and pine. On the 
bottoms are extensive meadows of blue joint grass, the soil being a dark vegetable 
mould with clay subsoil. The county is well watered by the Tahquamenon and its 
many branches; also by the St. Mary's, Two-hearted, Munnuscong, Carp and numerous 
smaller streams and inland lakes. Fine water powers are to be found on many of 
these streams. St. Mary's river has one of the finest water powers in the world, there 
being a fall of 18 feet between Lakes Superior and Huron. 

The principal crops are wheat, oats, barley, peas, hay, and all sorts of root crops. 
Considerable attention has been paid to farming within the past sixteen years. The 
county took the first prize for spring and winter wheat at the State fair held at Jack 
son in the fall of 1882. Corn is not successfully grown. Peas, hay and potatoes are 
among the most profitable crops. The smaller fruits grow to great perfection and are 
of the finest flavor. All sorts of berries grow in abundance, but the larger fruits do not 
succeed as well, owing to the length of the winters. 



Michigan by Counties. 223 

There are large tracts of "burnt lands" which can be cleared at from S2.50 to-SlO per 
acre. The cost of clearing the heavier timbered lands, however, will average S15 per 
acre. There are good wood markets at the Sault and at the towns along the Detroit, 
Mackinac & Marquette Railroad. 

In addition to the public lands open for sale or entry as homesteads, there are about 
400,000 acres of canal, railroad and lumbermen's lands subject to sale at prices ranging 
from §1 to 810 per acre, according to location. Along the lines of the railroads large 
tracts are being taken up, both by the settlers and by nonresidents, who can foresee 
their future value. A State road connects St. Ignace with the Sault. There are also 
many local roads, newly made, which are opening up the country in every direction. 
Winter sets in early. The snow falls to an average depth of three feet, the ground sel- 
dom freezing. Plowing begins as soon as the snow is off the ground, generally by 
April 1. Crops mature rapidly, owing to a peculiarity of the climate. The atmos- 
phere is remarkably dry, and is tempered and equalized by the great lakes to the north 
and south. The health of the citizens of this locality is materially improved by the 
entire absence of malaria. 

The lakes and spring brooks are tilled with every variety of brook trout, the best 
evidence in the world of the purity of their waters. 

There are forty-three district schools in the county and many others in process 
of organization. 

The principal industries are lumbering, agricultvire, fishing, sawing, dressing and 
manufacturing lumber into boxes, sash and doors for eastern shipment. 

Chippewa is a great county. It has the best of agricultural and timbered lands, a 
great variety of soil, fine water privileges, good society, available markets, and excel- 
lent shipping facilities. The attention of the immigrant has been turned in this 
direction, and its rapid development is an assured fact. 



BY OTTO FOWLE. 

Chippewa county lies at the extreme eastern end of the upper peninsula, extend- 
ing from Lake Huron on the south to Lake Superior on the north, and from the 
St. Mary river on the east, including several islands still east of this, westward to range 
eight west of Michigan meridian; it contains, including fractional, a total of fifty-five 
surveyed townships, or approximately 1,600 square miles. This is all now remain- 
ing of the county which once comprised the greater part of the upper peninsula 
of Michigan, northern Wisconsin and most of the state of Minnesota. 

The industries of the county are greatly diversified, including agriculture, manu- 
facturing and fishing. The principal agricultural products being wheat, oats, rye. 
peas, of which a large amount and of a superior quality is raised; several large 
seed firms having warehouses at Sault Ste. Marie, the county seat, are obtaining 
a fine quality and large quantities of seed peas. Potatoes, turnips, parsnips, beets, 
carrots, squashes and pumpkins yield abundantly and of fine quality, while garden 
stuffs of all kinds are easily produced. Timothy, clover, red top and many of the 
wild grasses yield large cuts of hay and afford excellent pasturage. Horses, sheep, 
cattle, hogs and poultry are raised to a considerable extent. Chippewa county 
mutton stands the favorite in the local markets over anything imported from the 
south and west Of wheat, both spring and winter are raised; the latter has lately 
obtained the preference. While farming is . still in its infancy here, Chippewa 
county has twice taken the premium on wheat at the State fair. Corn, on 
account of early frosts, is not attempted, excepting garden varieties. 

The surface of the county is, in the most, quite level, varying about the streams 
from light rolling to decidedly hilly; good drainage is everywhere admissible. The 
soil varies from lighty sandy to heavy clay, while loam tracts are abundant. 

All small fruits are easily raised, of excellent quality and good yield. Strawber- 
ries, currants and raspberries especially thrive. Who has not heard of Lake 
Superior raspberry jam? Whortle and cranberries are shipped in large quantities. 
Plums are prolific, while apples with care can be raised. , " "^ 

Lumbering has been extensively carried on in this county for several years. The 
pine still standing is estimated at one thousand million feet, about one hundred 
million being manufactured annually. Large tracts of spruce and other pulp woods 
are found, of which twenty thousand cords are annually gotten out. 

Interspersed with the pine and hemlock throughout the county are extensive 
tracts and belts of excellent hardwood. Running west from Waiskai river, the 
entire length of the county, about forty miles, is a belt of hardwood from sixteen 



224 Michigan and its Eesources. 

to twenty miles wide, composed of beech, birch and maple; the maple is of superior 
quality running largely to bird's-eye, and grows large and thrifty. The birch is 
remarkable for its richness in color and grows very plentifully. This hardwood is 
found in smaller tracts on most of the islands and interspersed throughout the 
main land. The low lands and river bottoms have a heavy growth of poplar and 
spruce, while cedar is abundant. It is estimated that not more than one-third of 
the hardwood has been cut. The greater part of the county can be classed as 
unimproved, and varies from S1.50 to 86.00 per acre in value. It is estimated that 
of improved lands there are about 25,000 acres valued at from §6 00 to 820.00 per 
acre while the farms near the Sault run as high as 8100.00 per acre. Much of the 
improvement is well and thoroughly done, good fences and buildings, while the 
latest farm machinery is extensively used. 

The manufactures are mostly of lumber and its products. At Sault Ste. Marie 
and Bay Mills are extensive planing, sash, door and box factories. At Sault 
Ste. Marie are first class machine shops and foundi-ies. while brick of good quality 
are extensively manufactured. 

The chief streams of the county, after the St. Mary, the outlet of Lake Superior, 
on which the United States government locks at Sault Ste. Marie are situated are 
the Taquahmenon, Waishkai, and Monoskong. none of the latter being navigable, 
excejjt for light tugs and flat boats, but affording excellent facilities for transport- 
ing timber, pulp, wood and cedar. 

There are no mines in the county. Stone quarries are extensively worked at 
Drummond Island where the backing stone for the government lock and building 
stone is taken. 

Sault Ste. Marie is the chief city, situated at the rapids of the St. Mary river. 
It has a population of 7,000 and is sustaining a substantial growth. It is the depot 
of supplies for the entire county and much beside. Here are the famous govern- 
ment locks, thrdugh which passes the entire Lake Superior commerce, the tonnage 
of 1892 being over 11,000,000 tons. 

The money expended by the government to complete the work now projected, 
with that already spent, will approximate 810,000,000. The operation of the canal 
affords labor for a large force and is an inportant factor in sustaining the city. 
Fuel and food supplies for the boats afford a large trade which insures good prices 
to the farmers for their products. The government is also constructing the build- 
ings for a military post at a cost of about 8350,000 to take the place of old Fort 
Brady established in 1822. When completed this, it is conceded, will be one of the 
finest posts in the Union. 

The fall of the St. Mary at this point is eighteen feet, thus affording one of the 
best water powers in the country. Of this the Chandler Dunbar Water Power Co. 
has utilized about 10,000 horse power, with which it lights the city, runs many 
electric motors, and proposes to pump the city water. Negotiations are pending by 
which a large pulp and flouring mill are to be located on their site. Running through 
the city from above the falls to Little Rapids extends the canal of the St. Mary's 
Falls Water Power Co., on which 8400,000 has been expended, and when completed 
to the proposed dimensions will afford 30,000 horse power. One hundred acres for 
mill sites on the river front is owned by this company, which when in operation 
will have facilities afforded for having railway tracks and docks adjacent to the 
mills. There are at present three railways in operation at this point, the "Soo"' 
line, the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic, and the Canadian Pacific, all of which have 
an interest in the international bridge across the St. Mary. 

Fish and game are abundant. The commercial fish include whitefish. herring, 
sturgeon, pickerel and lake trout. The fish annually shipped from this point, mostly 
whitefish and lake trout, is about 2,200 tons, valued at 8231,000. The game fish 
arc brook trout and bass, and are taken in large numbers. 

The large game consists of deer, bear, wolves, foxes, lynx, and many fur-bearing 
animals such as otter, beaver, muskrat. skunk and rabbit. Of birds, partridges 
and ducks are most abundant. 

CLARE COUNTY. • 

Clare county was organized in 1871. It is bounded on the north by Missaukee 
and Roscommon, on the east by Gladwin, on the south by Isabella and on the west 
by Osceola. It has an area of 576 square miles, and had a population in 1890 of 
7,553. Harrison, a town of 800 inhabitants, is the county seat. The surface of the 
country is gently rolling, with some hilly sections in the center of the county. It 



Michigan by Counties. 225 

is well watered by small streams, inland lakes and spring brooks. At Farwell and 
Clare a small water power is afforded by the Tobacco river which might be used 
to run several mills. The swamps are mostly cedar and ash, and are easily drained. 
A number of townships have a light, sandy soil with a clay subsoil. A large part 
of the county, however, has a good clay soil. 

Pine, hemlock, beech, maple, basswood and elm comprise the principal varieties 
of timber. The crops are mainly wheat, hay and potatoes. Oats are successfully 
grown in some townships. The county being new, fruit raising has not as 
yet had a fair test. There are. however, thrifty young orchards which give prom- 
ise of bearing large crops in the near future. The cost of clearing averages $20 
per acre. There are convenient wood markets all along the line of the railroads. 

There is 6,497 acres of State and Government land subject to sale or entry. 
There are large tracts of unimproved lands in the market, which can be had at 
from SS to SIO per acre, while improved farms range from S15 to 860. There are also 
large quantities of stump lands, which will eventually make good farms, and which 
are held at from 50 cents to $6 and $7 per acre. 

There are two State roads in the county, one running north from Farwell to 
Houghton lake, and the other running north and east from Clare to Gladwin. 
The local roads are generally in a fair condition. Snow falls by December 1, and 
attains a depth of from 12 to 18 inches. The ground does not freeze to a great 
depth, and spring work usually begins by April 15. 

The schools are fair, considering the newness of the county. At the villages 
along the line of the railroads they are very good indeed. 

The industries are lumbering and agriculture. Labor is always in good demand, 
particularly in the lumber woods, wages ranging from $23 to $30 per month with 
board. The Flint & Pere Marquette railroad and T. A. A. & N. M. railway and its 
branches cross the county, affording a good outlet for its vast lumber resources. 

CLINTON COUNTY. 

BY R. M. WINSTON, ST. JOHNS, MICH. 

Clinton county was organized in 18.39. It is bounded on the north by Gratiot, 
on the east by Shiawassee, on the south by Eaton and Ingham, and on the west 
by Ionia. It has an area of five hundred and seventy-six square miles, and a popula- 
tion in 1890 of 26,509. St. Johns, a thriving town of 3,132 inhabitants, is the county 
seat. The surface of the county is gently rolling and is well watered by the 
Looking-glass, Maple and Grand rivers, and many small brooks flowing into them. 
The swamp lands are well drained. Through the center of the county east and west 
the soil is a rich clay loam. North and south of the central belt there are belts of 
excellent sandy and gravelly loam. The greater part of the county was embraced 
in the heavily timbered land and timber openings, the open land or ■•prairies" being 
generally of small expanse. The lands from which heavy timber has been cleared 
are generally strongest and best. There is. however, but little poor soil in the 
county. 

The prevailing varieties of timber are oak, maple, basswood. beech, ash. hickory, 
elm and walnut. The forests are being preserved for farm use and but little lum- 
bering will be done in the future. 

The Detroit. Grand Haven & Milwaukee railroad crosses the county from east to 
west while the Detroit, Lansing it Northern, Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw and the 
Toledo, Ann Arbor ifc Northern Michigan cross the southwestern, southeastern and 
northeastern portions of the county respectively. 

Agricultural products peculiar to this latitude can be successfully produced in 
Clinton county, and it is a matter of record that Clinton county has raised in one 
year, more wheat than any other county of equal area in the United States. Oats, 
corn, barley and potatoes are also successfully grown; and from the reclaimed 
swamp lands, bountiful crops of garden products and hay are produced. Apples, pears, 
peaches, plums, berries and grapes do well. The apple crop is becoming an impor- 
tant source of income. Good lands with a fair improvement are held at from $30 
to $10 per acre, while farms with excellent buildings, good fences, etc., are held at 
from $10 to $50 per acre; some farms near railroad town.s bring $75 per acre. These 
farms are near good markets reached by roads unsurpassed by those of any county 
in the State. 

Every part of the county is well supplied with schools and churches, the rural 
schools being well graded and provided with a uniform course of study; the teachers 

29 



226 Michigan and its Eesources. 

are enthusiastic and competent. In the villages are excellent graded and Union 
schools. 

Stock raising is an important industrj', and farmers are taking great interest in 
improving their horses, cattle, sheep and swine by purchasing and importing stock 
for breeding purposes. It is undoubtedly a fact that farmers are making more money 
from stock than from grain products. We now have five creameries and two cheese 
factories in active operation. One mercantile firm in St. Johns alone purchased 
last year butter and eggs to the amount of $60,000. A dealer in eggs purchased 
and shipped 270,000 dozen, valued at SoO.OOO. These facts from two firms show the 
importance of our small industries. 

Manufacturing is also quite an important industry, St. Johns claiming the largest 
exclusive table factory in the world, the firm carrying a stock of hardwood lumber of 
9,000,000 feet. The Ovid carriage works are also well known. 

The merchants carry large stocks of goods, one firm doing a business of over 
$200,000 sales in 1892. 

The inhabitants are principally of American descent except in the townships in 
the west central part where an industrious German population can be found. 

For miles one may travel through Clinton county and see a succession of well 
cultivated farms with neatly painted and constructed farm buildings, showing con- 
clusively that the people are industrious, intelligent and live in a county second 
to none in such material resources as a fertile soil, mild climate, and good markets 
can give. 

CRAWFORD COUNTY. 

BY E. HANSON, GRAYLING, MICH. 

The principal industry of Crawford county is lumbering, largely in the logs 
put into the Manistee and Au Sable rivers. Manufacturing into lumber is also 
carried on at the principal town of the county. Grayling, which is also the county 
seat; also a small amount at Frederic and Roscommon, making a total of about 
seventy-five millions a year manufactured, and the probable amount of logs as 
much more. 

Geographically the county is located on the head waters of two of the finest 
rivers in the State, starting a few miles north of the county. These two rivers 
run parallel for a distance of nearly twelve miles, only one and one-half to three 
miles apart, then dividing, one, the Manistee, flowing toward the west and empty- 
ing into Lake Michigan, and the other turning toward the east, emptying into 
Lake Huron. 

As to agriculture considerable has been done, and all kinds of grain raised, but 
owing to the cold and late frost, is not generally considered a success. 

The soil is light and sandy, being open plains or covered with pine largely, 
except two towns in the northwest corner, which is hardwood, such as beech, 
maple, basswood and birch. About two-thirds of the wood lands of the county are 
cut. The unimproved land is worth 50 cents per acre, and the improved land $20 
to $30 per acre. On both the Manistee and Au Sable there are some splendid 
water powers undeveloped. Both the Manistee and Au Sable abound with the 
celebrated grayling- fish and also trout, and game of all kinds inhabit this region, 
it being comparatively a wilderness yet, such as bears, wolves, deer and other wild 
beasts of the forest. 

Schools and churches will compare favorably with any part of the State. At 
Grayling, the county seat, we have a high school with six teachers, and some of 
our graduates have gone direct to the University from here. One graduate from 
this school passed examination for West Point successfully, in competition with 
over forty others in this district, and schools in other parts of the county are 
excellent. 

We have four churches at Grayling, and several others in other parts of the 
county, all prosperous and doing good work. The Michigan Central Railroad and 
its branches passes through the county north and south. 

Wages paid for common labor $1.50 per day; skilled labor from $2 to $6 per day. 

DELTA COUNTY. 

Delta county was organized in 1861. It is bounded on the north and east by 
Schoolcraft, on the south by Green bay and Lake Michigan and on the west by 



Michigan by Counties. 227 

Menominee and Marquette. It has an area of 1,152 square miles and a population 
in 1890 of 15,330. Escanaba, a town of 6,808 inhabitants, situated on an arm of 
Green bay, is the county seat. 

The country is generally level. There are areas of rolling land along the rivers, 
nine of which traverse the county from north to south. The soil on the rolling 
lands is a sandy loam, with clay subsoil and a limestone foundation; on the plains 
it is sandy, and on the marshes a vegetable loam with sandy subsoil. On the roll- 
ing lands the timber is principally beech, birch and maple, on the plains pine 
abounds, while in the swamps cedar and tamarack are found in large quantities. 
The prmcipal crops are wheat, oats, all the grasses, potatoes, and garden vegeta- 
bles of the hardier sorts. No fruit is grown, although apples might be successfully 
grown upon the clay soil. The cost of clearing varies. Swamps are the most 
expensive clearing, hardwood and pine lands costing less, with good wood markets 
at the towns and charcoal furnaces. 

There were subject to entry in 1890, 04,064 acres of land. Unimproved lands near 
the settlements can be purchased at from $3 to $8 per acre, while improved farms 
are proportionately higher. "Stump lands'' are held at from 50 cents to 82 per 
acre. A State road traverses the county from north to south, but is neglected and 
but little used. It passes through Escanaba, and connects Green bay with 
Marquette. Another extends from Days river to Manistique in Schoolcraft county. 

Snow falls in November, and averages from three to four feet in depth. The 
ground freezes quite deep, and spring work cannot be begun before May 1. The 
schools are in a very creditable condition for a comparatively new county. Lum- 
bering and fishing are the principal industries, although the charcoal business is 
extensively carried on along the line of the railway. Labor is not in good demand 
save in the lumber camps. Immigrants with limited means will find this county 
a good field for agricultural development. The Chicago & Northwestern Railroad 
passes through the county. Escanaba has been and is still the leading iron port 
in the land. It has a magnificent harbor, and it is claimed to be the largest ore 
shipping port in the world, and is destined to become one of the leading manu- 
facturing and business centers in northwestern Michigan. 

DICKINSON COUNTY. 

Dickinson county was organized in 1891 from Iron, Marquette and Menominee. 
It has a population of about 16,000 and has an area of 491,917 acres. Iron Mount- 
ain is the county seat and had a population in 1891 of 8,559. The principal interests 
are mining and lumbering, some of the largest iron mines in the Menominee range 
being here, namely, the great Chapin, Pewabic, Ludington, Hamilton or Aragon, 
East and West Vulcan, and several others. The amount of iron ore produced by 
these mines from 1878 to December 31, 1892, was about 11,000,000 tons, which was 
shipped by rail to Escanaba and thence by lake to Cleveland and AsJitabula, Ohio. 
The lands generally are unimproved and heavily timbered, principally pine, hemlock, 
cedar, maple and birch, about three-fourths of which remains uncut. The soil 
is sandy loam and adapted to oats and vegetables of all kinds, particularly potatoes. 
The value of improved lands, abovit the sixteenth of the total, is $8 to $10 per acre, 
and the average value of unimproved lands is 82.50 per acre. 

Lumber and shingles are manufactured at Norway, Sagold, Metropolitan, Foster 
City. About 100,000,000 feet board measure is cut annually. 

The principal rivers are the Menominee, Michigamme and Sturgeon, not navigable 
on account of the numerous rapids and falls which afford abundance of water power, 
very little developed as yet. There is one pulp mill and one hydraulic power works 
which furnishes the power that operates the machinery of the Chapin mine, which 
is conveyed in iron pipes a distance of two and one-half miles. The principal mar- 
kets are Chicago and Milwaukee. 

The schools and school buildings are among the best in the State. At [ron Mount- 
ain the school building is of gray granite, costing 840,000. There are numerous 
churches, nearly all denominations having places of worship. There are three 
railroads, namely, the Chicago & Northwestern, Milwaukee & Northern, and the 
Escanaba, Iron Mountain & Western, the latter exclusively used for carrying ore. 

Wages for woodsmen from 818 to 835 per month, common labor 81.40 to 81.60, 
skilled, 82.50 to 84.50 per day. 

Small lakes and streams are numerous and abound in fish, principally speckled 
trout, black bass, pickerel, wall-eyed pike and perch. Deer are quite numerous,, 
and by the strict enforcement of the new game law are increasing every year. 




a, 

UJ 

a: 
< 



Michigan by Counties. 2'29' 

EATON COUNTY. 

Eaton county was organized in 1837. It ie bounded on the north by Ionia and 
Clinton, on the east by Ingham, on the south by Jackson and Calhoun, and on 
the west by Barry. It has an area of 57G square miles, and had a population in 
1890 of 32,094. Charlotte, a flourishing town of 3,807 inhabitants, is the county 
seat. 

The surface of the county is generally rolling, with small prairies or plains in 
some parts. Grand river waters the four eastern townships. Battle creek and its 
tributaries the central and northwestern towns, and the Thornapple the northern, 
central and western towns. The first named streams furnish good water powers. 

All varieties of soil may be found. The subsoil is generally clay. The township 
of Bellevue has a limestone subsoil. In the central parts of the county a gravelly 
subsoil is found in a few townships. 

The timber is principally oak. beech, maple, elm, ash, hickory, walnut, whitewood 
and tamarack. The principal crops are wheat, oats, corn, potatoes and barley. 
Maple sugar is made in large quantities. Fruit does well, apples, grapes and 
berries of all descriptions being especially successful, while peaches are raised in 
small quantities. The cost of clearing ranges from $12 to $20 per acre. There are 
good wood markets in all of the villages. 

There are no government or State lands of any value in the market. Scarcely 
any unimpi-oved lands can be had, as such land is retained by the farmers for 
its timber. Improved farms are held at from $30 to $50 per acre. The roads 
of the county are all good. 

Snow falls by December 1, the average depth during the season reaching fif- 
teen inches, the ground freezing to the same depth. Farmers plow in April. 
The schools are good and rapidly improving. Olivet college, a Congregational 
institution at the town of the same name, is in a flourishing condition. 

Agriculture is the principal industry. There is some lumbering and tie-cutting, 
also considerable lime burned at Bellevue. There is no special demand for 
labor, unless perchance in the summer season. The Chicago & Grand Trunk, 
Grand Rapids division of the Michigan Central and the Lansing branch of the 
Michigan Southern railroads cross the county in different directions, afl'ording 
excellent market privileges. 

Eaton county is' a rich agricultural county, and most of its inhabitants are 
thrifty, well-to-do citizens. 

EMMET COUNTY. 
BY J. C. BONTECOU, PETOSKEY, MICH. 

Emmet county was organized in 1853. It is bounded on the north by the Straits 
of Mackinac, on the east by Cheboygan, on the south by Charlevoix and Little 
Traverse bay, on the west by Lake Michigan. It has an area of 414 square miles, 
and had a population in 1890 of 8,756. Harbor Springs, a beautifully located town of 
1,000 inhabitants, is the county seat. Petoskey, a town of 4,000 inhabitants, located 
across the bay from Harbor Springs, is the most important town in the county. The 
surface of the county might be termed rolling. There are some townships which are 
level, others are rolling, while certain portions of the county are very hilly. A 
large part of the county is well watered by creeks, spring brooks and lakes, while 
but a small portion is without water. Bear creek which flows into Little Traverse 
bay at Petoskey, has fine water powers for some distance back from its mouth, 
now fully utilized for manufacturing purposes. The soil is variable. In some 
localities will be found a patch of sandy or gravelly loam, with or without clay 
subsoil. In others a patch of clay loam, alternating with a patch of sandy loam 
or limestone sand with a sandy subsoil. As a rule the soil is very productive in 
all parts of the county. Sugar maple, beech, birch, hemlock, cedar, pine, elm, ash, 
and basswood timber is found in quantities throughout the county. 

Wheat and all grain crops, with the exception of some varieties of corn, are grown 
successfully. Early corn does well, as does the late Dent variety. Grass in nearly all 
its varieties, is a productive crop. Potatoes and all root crops also yield bountifully. 

Fruit growing is yet in its infancy, but a large acreage has been planted with apple- 
pear, plum, and cherry trees. All these fruits do finely, especially all varieties of 
the plum, which is here a perfect fruit, and gives a marvelous yield. 8mall fruits also 
do well, especially the raspberry and strawberry. 



230 Michigan and its Eesources. 

The timber is generally heavy, and the cost of clearing averages about $20 per 
acre. The villages afford a fair market for wood. 

There are 4,000 acres of government and State land subject to sale or entry. 
Unimproved lands are held at from $5 to 820 per acre, while improved lands range 
from $15 to $50. 

There are fine State roads in the county, and the townships are now well supplied 
with roads which are being greatly improved each year. 

Snow falls by December 1, the average depth attained during the winter being 
about twenty inches. The winters are very steady. The ground does not freeze 
to any depth, and plowing can always be undertaken in April. The schools are 
in good condition and compare favorably with those in the older portions of the 
State. Excellent graded schools can be found at Petoskey and Harbor Springs. 

There is very little pine in the county, but hardwood, hemlock and cedar lum- 
bering is a heavy industry on Maple river, Carp river, Bear creek. Birch, Pickard 
and Crooked lakes, also along the line of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad. 
Tanbark is also shipped in large quantities. Lime, lumber, handles, wood pulp, 
ties, posts, telegraph poles, woodenware and leather are shipped in large quantities by 
rail and by vessel. The Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad ci'osses the county on 
its way to Mackinac, and a branch extends from Petoskey to Harbor Springs. The 
Chicago & West Michigan railroad now terminates at Petoskey but will eventually 
run to the Straits of Mackinac. It connects Emmet county with Charlevoix. Bellaire, 
Elk Rapids and Traverse City, besides giving through fast trains to Grand Rapids, 
Detroit and Chicago. 

Little Traverse bay and the resorts along its banks, have become famous, owing 
to wonderful climatic advantages. Petoskey, Bay View. Wequetonsing, Harbor 
Springs and Harbor Point, are thronged every season with tourists in search of 
health or pleasure, and the Summer Assembly and Summer University at Bay 
View is now second alone to Chautauqua, both in attendance and the extent of its 
programs and curriculum. 

GENESEE COUNTY. 

Genesee county was organized in 18.36. It is bounded on the north by Tuscola and 
Saginaw, on the east by Lapeer, on the south by Livingston and Oakland, and on the 
west by Shiawassee and Saginaw. It has an area of 648 square miles, and had, in 1890, 
a population of 39,4.30. Flint, a flourishing city of 9,803 inhabitants, is the county seat. 
The State institution for the Deaf and Dumb is located in the suburbs of this city. 

The surface of the county is comparatively level, although a few townships are quite 
rolling. It is well watered by the Flint and Shiawassee rivers, the Thread and Swartz 
creeks, and by several smaller streams. Several fine water powers are found in differ- 
ent parts of the county. There are several inland lakes of considerable size, notably 
Long lake in Fenton township, which is famed for its beautiful shores, and has become 
during the last few years a pleasure resort of considerable prominence. 

The soil of the southern townships is a sandy gravel, such as is usually found in oak 
openings, with a clay loam on the lower lands. The rest of the county has a clay loam 
with a clay subsoil in most localities. The timber remaining is mainly oak, beech, 
maple, elm, and basswood. 

Genesee is emphatically a representative county when its grain producing qualities 
are taken into consideration. Corn, wheat, oats, barley, and in short any grain that 
can be grown in this latitude, do remarkably well with proper attention. Wheat in 
particular is regarded as a sure crop, and will average one year with another, 25 bushels 
to the acre. The cultivation of fruit has been well tested. Apples are grown and 
shipped in large quantities. Few peaches are raised, but grapes, cherries, and all sorts 
of berries grow to great perfection. 

There are no government or State lands of any description in the market. Even the 
pine stump lands have been improved, and are held at from $15 to $25 per acre. 
Improved farms range from 830 to $100. The roads of the county are all good, the 
Jong-constructed State roads being no better than the ordinary township roads. 

Snow falls in December, and sleighing often lasts two months. The ground freezes 
to an average depth of ten inches. Plowing usually begins by April 1. 

The country and village schools are among the finest in the State. The high school 
at Flint is one of the few schools from which students are admitted to the University 
without further examination, and has a very large resident and non-resident attendance. 

Lumbering, once the principal industry, is looked upon as a thing of the past, 
.although some logs are now cut in different parts of the county, and considerable 



Michigan by Counties. 231 

sawing is yet done. Agriculture and manufacturing are now the recognized industries. 
Among its many manufactories are to be noticed extensive wagon works, woolen and 
cotton mills, charcoal works, machine shops, foundries, flouring mills, shoe, cigar, 
pickle, and agricultural implement factories, all of which employ a large number of 
men. Labor is in fair demand on farms during the summer season; but there is 
usually an over supply of this commodity during the winter months. 

The Flint & Pere Marquette, its Otter Lake division, the Detroit & Milwaukee, and 
the Chicago &, Grand Trunk railroads furnish the outlets for the marketable pro- 
ductions of this county. 

Genesee is rapidly becoming one of the wealthies counties in the State, and is receiv- 
ing large accessions to its population annually from all points of the compass. 

The following is from Hon. Josiah W. Begole, Ex-Governor of Michigan: 

Flint Mich., May 3, 1893. 

I am just in receipt of your circular asking me to give you the present history of 
Genesee county. In reply will say that I have carefully compared the old com- 
pilation of Genesee county with its present condition. Her present and past 
condition is and has been a flattering one. Large improvements have been 
made in most everything that pertains to Genesee county. Her cities, towns, 
and villages are all growing and prosperous. There are no more woods in our 
county except small patches that the most of our farmers have left for wood lots; all 
of our lands are improved. We have but few small lakes and no swamps. Nearly all is 
good land and that is the greatest source of our prosperity. We have three good 
saw-mills now running successfully, in Flint. The logs are mostly brought from the 
north part of the State. There is but very little rolling land in our county and good 
drainage everywhere. In addition to those mentioned in the old compilation we have 
four large and prosperous carriage and wagon factories in Flint, three of which I know 
turn out one thousand dollars worth of goods each and every day. I came to this town 
when it was an unbroken wilderness, in the svimmer of 1836, the year that both the 
State and county were organized, though the State was not received into the grand 
union of states until in the winter of 1837, I have the honor to be 

Truly yours, 

JOSIAH W. BEGOLE. 

GLADWIN COUNTY. 
BY EUGENE FOSTER, GLADWIN. 

Gladwin county was organized in 1875. It is bounded on the north by Roscom- 
mon and Ogemaw, on .the east by Bay, on the south by Midland, and on the west 
by Clare. It has an area of 504 square miles, and had a population in 1890 of 
4,208. Gladwin, a village of about 100 inhabitants, is the county seat. 

The eastern and southern portions of the county are level, while the northern 
and western parts are quite rolling. The county is well watered by the Tittaba- 
wassee. Molasses, Tobacco, and Cedar rivers and their smaller tributaries. There 
are a number of available water powers on the above streams. Good arable land 
is found throughout the entire county, although in the northwestern corner and in 
the eastern center of the county the soil is rather light. The timber is pine, 
hemlock, cedar, oak, ash, elm, beech, maple, basswood. ironwood. poplar, wild cherry, 
and butternut. All sorts of crops are raised successfully. The soil is especially 
well adapted to the raising of clover and timothy. Fruit growing is as yet in its 
infancy; all kinds of berries, however are found in abundance. The cost of clearing 
averages from 810 to 820 per acre, with a good market for wood. 

There are no government lands in the market, but there were subject to entry 
January 1. 1893, 392 acres of State swamp, 775 acres of primary school, and some 
Flint ife Pere Marquette railroad lands. Unimproved lands are held at from 85 
to 810 per acre. There are large tracts of stump land that can be had at a low 
figure, and are said to be admirably adapted to farming. A State road runs 
from Midland through this county to Houghton lake, and thence to Grand 
Traverse. There is also a State road from Loomis to Gladwin, and one from Cole- 
man to Gladwin. The other roads of the county are mainly new. 

Snow falls by December 1 and may last until April 1. Every alternate winter 
less snow falls, and the ground freezes to some depth. Some winter potatoes will 
keep in the patch. 



282 • Michigan and its Resources. 

'The schools are good, every locality supplied. Lumbering is the principal industry 
and labor is always in good demand in the camps, wages ranging from S20 to S'25 
per month with Vjoard. Lands are cheap and productive, society good, and the 
prospect of a rapid growth very favorable. A logging road has been built by the 
Flint it Pere Marquette Railroad company, extending from Coleman a short dis- 
tance into Gl&dwin county. It will eventually reach Gladwin. 

The county is rapidly developing and is destined to be one of the most prosper- 
ous counties in the State. 

GOGEBIC COUNTY. 
BY W. H. DOYLE, IRONWOOD. 

Gogebic county was organized in 1887. It is the most northwesterly county in 
the State, and is bounded on the north by Lake Superior and Ontonagon county, 
on the east by Iron county, and on the west and south by the state of Wisconsin. 
Bessemer is the county seat. It has a population of 2,500. Ironwood is the prin- 
cipal city. Its population is over 10,000. The other principal settlements in the 
county are at Wakefield, Watersmeet and Marenisco. Previous to 188.5 there was 
no settlement in the territory comprising the county, outside the few miners 
who were then engaged in exploring for iron ore, and whose efforts were crowned 
by the development of the largest iron mine in the world and a number of the 
largest in the country. 

The surface of the county is rolling, several ranges of mineral bearing hills 
extending through it from east to west. The lowlands are easily reclaimable. and 
many of the swamps dry up as the timber is cut. There are numerous lakes and 
rivers in the county, many of which afford splendid opportunities for the develop- 
ment of water power, either for direct use or generating electrical energy. Although 
not as rich in pine as most counties in the upper peninsula, Gogebic is possessed 
of vast timber resources. Sugar and bird's-eye maple, birch, bass, ash, spruce, cedar, 
and hemlock exist in great abundance. The soil varies, but in many portions of 
the county it is a heavy loam with a clay subsoil. 

The county is penetrated by three railroads; the Dujuth. South Shore & Atlantic; 
the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western, and the Wisconsin Central, now under 
lease to and a part of the Northern Pacific system. The nearest lake port is Ash- 
land, Wis., located about forty miles from Ironwood and forty-six miles from Bessemer. 
The railroad companies enjoy a very lucrative traffic in carrying the iron ore pro- 
duced in the county to Ashland whence it is carried in ships to the furnaces at 
Milwaukee and Chicago, and to Cleveland for reshipment to Pittsburg and the 
other iron manufacturing points in Pennsylvania and Ohio. 

The principal industries of the county are mining and lumbering, although 
manufacturing is receiving great encouragement and growing to be an industry of 
considerable importance. The greatest iron mine in the world, the Norrie, which 
has. during the past few years, received great attention from mining and iron men 
is located at Ironwood. There are also a number of other large iron mines at 
Ironwood, Bessemer and Wakefield, and excellent indications of the existence of ore 
at points in the vicinity of Watersmeet and Marenisco. and about twelve miles 
southeast of Lake Gogebic. There has been some exploring for silver in the vicinity 
of Wakefield and south of Bessemer. There is a large outcropping of galena near 
Marenisco, indications of the existence of tin and cobalt near Lake Gogebic, and 
numerous veins of copper bearing rock north of the iron range, but no systematic 
effort has ever been made to ascertain whether those minerals exist in paying 
quantities. There are also indications of the existence of an iron range in the 
southern part of the county. The Gogebic range extends through the county 
from the Montreal river on the west to Lake Gogebic, a distance of over thirty 
miles. Mining is conducted with considerable profit on nearly every forty acre 
tract along the range from the Montreal river to several miles east of Wake- 
field, a distance of about fifteen miles. The explorations further east give 
promise of developing into good mines. The county consequently offers excellent 
inducements to those who wish to explore. The owners of the land will extend 
mining privilege or "option" to any company offering to conduct exploratory 
operations, on their agreeing to pursue the same in good faith and energetically, 
and by paying a royalty on all ore mined. It was on agreement similar to this 
that nearly all the large mines in the county were explored and developed. A 
party of men desirous of speculating in a mining venture in a small way. can 



Michigan by Counties. 233 



thus find plenty of opportunities in Gogebic county. Every 40-acre tract along 
the range may not turn out to be productive of ore in paying quantities, but 
where a few men organize a company or copartnership for the purpose they 
will find that five or ten thousand dollars will go a long way toward exploring 
a property. When it is considered that previous to the opening of the great 
mines here, all the provisions for the explorers had to be carried into the county 
on the backs of men, and that now the county is traversed by several rail- 
roads, it can be seen how economically exploratory operations can be conducted 
now in comparison to a few years ago. Still, the chances are that as many 
great mines will be developed in the future as in the past. The six mines 
located within the corporate Umits of the city of Ironwood were assessed last 
year at over six million dollars or less than one-half their value. The develop- 
ment of such immense wealth in a few years is only an indication of the untold 
wealth that still remains undistvirbed in the earth, awaiting the expenditure of 
capital for its revelation to the world. 

Lake Gogebic in this county is a veritable nature's sanitarium. This lake is 
twelve miles distant and 900 feet above the waters of Lake Superior. It is fifteen 
miles long and one and one-half to three miles wide, and it is generally conceded to 
afford the best black bass fishing known anywhere. Brook trout are found in trib- 
utary streams, and at certain seasons of the year very large brook trout are caught in 
the open lake. Gogebic lake is a favorite resort for those suffering from hay fever 
or throat and lung troubles. The hotel and cottages furnish first class accommo- 
dations for 100 guests. At the lake is a fine fieet of boats and a steam yacht. The 
trout fishing near Watersmeet is also very fine. Both places are reached by the 
Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western. 

Timber lands are sold at from S5 to S12 per acre. Within a radius of one mile 
of the center of Ironwood land is valued at from $50 to SlOO per acre. Within two 
or three miles of the mines it is held at about S25 per acre. 

Ironwood and Bessemer, although young towns, are places of considerable activity. 
The business places in both cities are substantial brick and frame structures. Both 
cities have excellent systems of water-works, and electric light plants. The county 
buildings in Bessemer cost 850.000. The large mines in the vicinity of the place 
furnish employment for a great many men. 

Among the more important objects of interest in Ironwood besides its great mines 
are the electric street railway, several saw mills, chair factory, and an arc lamp 
manufactory. Its system of water-works cost nearly $500,000, and it has an 
excellent paid fire department. 

The assessed valuation of city property is about $7,000,000. The monthly pay roll 
of mining and other companies is over $2.50,000. It has seven school houses, thir- 
teen churches, fifteen secret and benevolent societies, and three banks. The busi- 
ness houses are nearly all of brick and brown sandstone. The hotels are commodious 
and well patronized. Numerous visitors from the large cities patronize them during 
the summer months. A party of capitalists have given a bond of $50,000 to com- 
mence the erection of a large furnace before July 1. There are few cities in Mich- 
igan that can boast of more rapid progress or greater prosperity than Ironwood. 

The accompanying table shows the amount of iron ore shipped from the mines 
of Gogebic county up to the close of 1S92. The importance of the mining business 
can easily be seen from the fact that the average monthly pay roll for 1892 at the 
Norrie mine was $73,186. 

30 



234 



Michigan and its Eesources. 



Shipment of ore from Gogebic county. 



Name of mine. 


Tons. 


Name of mine. 


Tons. 


1892. 


Total. 


1892. 


Total. 


Aphland, Ironwood 

Aurora, Ironwood 


233,490 
319,481 
985,(144 
113,245 
165,962 

21,727 

304.240 

10,635 

41,807 

100,350 


1,611,3.52 

1.284,390 

4,095,451 

620,871 

610,029 

25,221 

1,549,680 

48,336 

169,321 

229,515 


Jack Pot, Bessemer 

Imperial, Bessemer 

Lowell. Bessemer 


3,960 

8,840 


7,:338 
36,768 
58.068 




Raby, Bessemer 




86.525 


Newport, Ironwood... 

Davis, Ironwood 

Coloy and Tilden, Bessemer 
Eureka, Bessemer . . 


Mikado, Wakefield 

Comet, Wakefield 

Sparta, Wakefield... 

Sunday Lake, Wakefield... 

Brotherton, Wakefield 

Iron Chief, Wakefield.. 


* 12,000 

54,778 

2,912 

56.046 

130,986 


12,000 

67,804 

2,912 

157.463 


Anvil, Bfssemer 


38:i.553 




12,300 











■J Amount prodnced but not shipped. 



GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY. 



Grand Traverse county was organized in 1851. It is bounded on the north by 
Leelanaw and Traverse bay, on the east by Kalkaska, on the south by Wexford, 
and on the west by Benzie. It has an area of 612 square miles, and had a popu- 
lation in 1890 of 13,355. Traverse city, situated at the head of Grand Traverse 
bay, a town of 4,353 inhabitants, is the county seat. The Northern Asylum for the 
Insane is beautifully located near the city. 

At least two-thirds of the county is quite level, while the remaining third is 
gently rolling, with a hilly tendency along the shores of the bay and inland lakes. 
Pine plains are quite extensive along the Boardman river, and cedar swamps, gen- 
erally reclaimable, traversed by streams of running water, are found in nearly every 
township. There is good water power on the Boardman river which is utilized at 
Traverse City. Half a dozen or more smaller streams furnish power for local saw 
and grist mills. 

The soil is principally a sandy loam. There are, however, some tracts of clay 
and clay loam. The soil of the table land and its declivities is boulder drift of 
great thickness, in some places being fifty feet in depth, having the same mineral 
characteristics as that of the surface, except as it is modified by the influence of 
vegetation and the elements. The timber is mainly sugar maple, beech, basswood, 
elm, hemlock, pine, and cedar. Wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, clover, timothy, and 
all varieties of roots do well in this county. Corn in particular does much better 
than would be expected in so high a latitude. 

Grand Traverse is a great fruit county. Apples and grapes are raised on all but 
the swamp lands, but the more tender varieties of apples need the protection of 
the bay or the more elevated situations. Pears, peaches, plums and cherries, are 
very successful when proper attention is paid to the selection of the site. Thousands 
of bushels of huckleberries grow on the pine' plains, while all other varieties of berries 
are perfectly at home, either in the field or garden. The famous Parmalee fruit farm 
on the peninsula is widely known for its great productiveness. As fine peaches and 
cherries as can be found in Michigan are grown on this farm, and, in fact, all over 
the peninsula. There is a great demand for the fruit of this county in the Chicago 
market. The cost of clearing will average $20 per acre, on the heaviest timbered 
land with a fair market on the bay shore. 

There are 3,120 acres of land subject to sale or entry. Good unimproved lands, 
other than government or State, are held at from $5 to B8 per acre. "Stump lands" 
have not been in great demand, and can be bought at from fifty cents to $5 per 
acre, while improved farms bring from §15 to SCO per acre. 

A State road runs from Traverse City to Elk Rapids, thence northward to Charle- 
voix and Petoskey. Another runs southeasterly to Houghton lake. The roads 
may be said to be in a fair condition for so new a county. Snow falls in November 
to an average depth of two and one-half feet. The ground usually freezes but 
little, often not at all. Plowing usually begins in April. The schools are quite 
numerous, and are very prosperous considering the newness of the county. In 
some districts the people have voted a tax upon themselves for school purposes 
greater than all other taxes combined. Lumbering is the principal industry, and 



Michigan by Counties. 235 

labor is in good demand at fair prices. Agriculture and fruit-raising ai;e advanc- 
ing rapidly, and a speedy development of the resources of the county is near at 
hand. ^ 

There are a number of pleasure resorts along the bays. Traverse City, Elk 
Rapids, and Old Mission are very popular during the summer season. The Grand 
Rapids and Indiana railroad has a branch from Walton to Traverse City. The 
Chicago and West Michigan railroad traverses the county passing through Traverse 
City thence to Charlevoix. Grand Traverse has great shipping facilities. Steamers 
connect Traverse City with Chicago, Milwaukee, etc., and a shore line touches 
at all points of interest between Traverse City and Mackinac. 

GRATIOT COUNTY. 

Gratiot was organized in 1855. It is bounded on the north by Isabella and 
Midland, on the east by Saginaw, on the south by Clinton, and on the west by 
Montcalm. It has an area of 576 square miles, and has a population of 28,668. 
Ithaca, a town of 1,627 inhabitants, is the county seat. The eastern portion of 
the county is generally level while the western portion is more rolling. 

It is watered by the Pine, Maple and Bad rivers, and a few smaller streams, 
with available water power on the Pine only. The soil is a rich sand and 
gravelly loam, mixed with a clay loam, generally on a clay subsoil. The pre- 
. vailing varieties of timber are oak, ash, maple, basswood, and elm. 

Wheat is the principal crop although corn, oats, potatoes, and grass find a soil 
admirably adapted to their growth. The apples, pears, and plums grown in this 
county are unusually fine. Peaches are not always a sure crop, though in localities 
very fine peaches have been raised in favorable seasons. 

The cost of clearing averages $20 per acre. There is a market for wood in 
the villages along the railroad, stove wood bringing from $1 to $1.25 per cord, 
and four foot wood from 81 to S1.75. There is no government lands remaining 
unsold. There are 640 acres of land subject to sale or entry. There are unim- 
proved lands in the market which can be had at from 88 to 815 per acre, 
according to their distance from the railroads. There are also large tracts of 
"stump lands" which are held at from 8.3 to 810 per acre. Wheat is generally 
succsssful on these lands. Improved farms range from 820 to 860 per acre, 
according to location. A State road runs from St. Johns in Clinton county, 
through Ithaca to St. Louis. Another one extends from Ovid, through the east- 
ern part of the county to St. Charles, and still another runs through the western 
part, from Hubbardston to Mt. Pleasant. The highways generally are in a fair 
condition. 

Snow falls in December, and averages two feet in depth. The ground generally 
freezes to a considerable depth. Plowing begins by April 1. 

The public schools are in a prosperous condition. The country schools are 
quite numerous, and the graded schools of the villages are very fine. Lumber- 
ing in hard wood is engaged in somewhat extensively. Labor is in good demand 
on farms, in clearing lands, and in saw mills, etc. 

The mineral springs at St. Louis have a world wide reputation and an extensive 
patronage at all seasons of the year. A fine sanitarium is connected with the 
mineral springs. 

The D. L. & N. & S. R. R. traverses the county from east to west, and the 
T., A. A. & N. M. R. R., running northwest also passes through the county. 

HOUGHTON COUNTY. 
BY B. T. JUDKINS, HOUGHTON, MICH. 

Houghton county is situated in almost the extreme northern portion of the 
upper peninsula of the State, the only county north of it being Keweenaw. It 
is bounded on the west and northwest by Lake Superior and on the east by 
Keweenaw bay. It had a population, in 1890, of 35,389. 

Houghton, the county seat, is situated on the southerly shore of Portage lake, 
a narrow sheet of water which cuts Keweenaw Point, as it is called, in two, 
and by its canals, which are now owned by the general government, connects on 
the northwest with Lake Superior and on the southeast vith Keweenaw bay 
forming direct water communication west with the head of Lake Superior and 



236 Michigan and its Eesources. 

east also with Lake Superior and the remainder of the great chain of lakes. It 
is the terminus of the Houghton branch of the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic 
railroad and is also the terminus of the Mineral Range railroad which com- 
municates with the towns north of it. Here is situated the Michigan Mining 
School, an institution fostered by the State and becoming widely known as a seat 
of learning in its specialty, that of mine engineering and its several branches. 
Houghton county is noted as a particularly healthy locality; the air is dry and 
clear and although its winters are cold such is the dryness of the atmosphere 
that it is felt far less than in portions of the country farther south. In summer 
though the days are sometimes warm, the atmosphere is clear and the nights 
are always cool and invigorating. Its several principal towns, Houghton, Hancock. 
Calumet, Red Jacket and Lake Linden, all have complete water systems and 
good drainage, making the county particularly healthy. The business of the 
county is largely given up to that of mining and kindred industries. The cop- 
per range passes through it from a southwesterly to a northeasterly direction, 
and along the range are situated within its territory the Atlantic, Huron, Quincy. 
Franklin, Osceola, Tamarack, Calumet and Hecla, Tamarack Junior, Centennial. 
Wolverine and Kearsarge mines; making it more noted as a coppor producing 
district than any other spot in the world. Indeed, the Tamarack, Quincy, and 
Calumet and Hecla mines are noted the world over. 

Each year more and more attention is given to agriculture. The soil is of 
the best and all of the hardier crops, such as oats, wheat, potatoes, etc., do 
exceedingly well. Up to date very little attention has been given to wheat owing 
to the limited market, but as the yield is from 25 to 45 bushels per acre more 
wheat will be grown each year. The season is usually long enough to grow 
garden truck which matures very rapidly. Small fruits, particularly strawberries, 
yield very abundantly. 

Although hundreds of acres of timber have been cut off there are still thou- 
sands of acres of as fine timber standing as are to be found anywhere in the 
world. It largely consists of pine, maple. Spruce, Hemlock, Birch, etc., much of 
it being easy of access. 

With the extension of our manufacturing enterprises throughout the country 
Houghton county is bound to attract attention from those looking for a suitable 
locality to settle as its advantages are numerous, having as it does both rail 
and water communicaction, pure water, schools that are not to be excelled any 
where in the State, and a climate which enables a man to do a larger day's 
work than a locality situated farther south. 

Houghton county is one of the wealthiest in the State, standing as it does 
third in point of valuation. 

HILLSDALE COUNTY. 

Hillsdale county was organized in 1835. It is bounded on the north by Jackson 
and Calhoun, on the east by Lenawee, on the south by Ohio, and on the west 
by Branch. It has an area of 594 square miles, and had a population, in 1890, of 
30,660. Hillsdale, a fine town of 3.915 inhabitants, is the county seat. The general 
surface of the county is undulating, yet in no place is it so hilly as to interfere 
with easy cultivation. It is well watered, being the source of the following rivers: 
Raisin. St. Joseph. Little St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Tiffin, and Grand, and will average 
two small lakes to each of the eighteen townships. There are many small water 
powers, but none sufficient for heavy manufacturing. The soil of the north half is 
a gravelly loam mixed with clay, with a gi-avel and clay subsoil. That of the south 
half is clay and clay loam, with clay subsoil. The timber is of the following 
varieties: Oak, hickory, burr oak, black walnut, ash, basswood, maple, beech, white 
wood, elm, cherry, and tamarack. The principal crops are wheat, corn, potatoes, 
and grass. All crops usually found in this latitude are successfully grown. Fruit 
growing has been well tested by a long experience. Apples, peaches, pears, and the 
smaller frviits seldom fail of tine crops. Shipping is confined principally to apples, 
although the drying industry has become a considerable one within the last few 
years. The cost of clearing will average 815 per acre, with excellent wood markets 
on every hand. No government or State lands of any description is in the market. 
But very little unimproved land can be had at any price. Improved farms range 
from S30 to SlOO per acre. 

The roads of the county are uniformly good. The seasons are of a good length. 
Snow falls from November 20 to December 15, to an average depth of a foot. When 



Michigan by Counties. 237 

no snow falls, the ground freezes to the depth of a foot and a half. Plowing 
frequently begins by March 20. The schools all rank high. There are at least ten 
graded schools in the county. Hillsdale college at Hillsdale is one of the largest 
educational institutions in the State. Agriculture is the main industry. Cheese 
making is also an important enterprise. There is a good demand for labor on farms 
by the year, and particularly from early spring until after harvest. The Michigan 
Southern, its Lansing branch, the Fort Wayne & Jackson, and the Detroit, Hills- 
dale & Southwestern railroads cross the county in different directions. Few if any 
counties in the State surpass Hillsdale in privileges of markets, railroads, schools, 
churches, and all of the surroundings that make a locality a desirable residence. 

HURON COUNTY. 

BY FRANK W. HUBBARD. 

The principal industries of the county of Huron are agriculture, and the manu- 
facture' of lumber, salt, grindstones, scythe stones, lime, cement, and staves and 
heading, and the mining of coal and quarrying stone. The agricultural products 
are wheat, rye, oats, barley, hay and clover seed, potatoes, carrots, turnips and 
mangels, and all kinds of orchard fruits particularly apples "and plums, which thrive 
better and yield more abundantly than in any other county in the State. This 
county has an average yield of eighteen bushels of wheat to the acre, many fields 
where properly drained yielding from 30 to 45 bushels. There were shipped from 
this county last year over 80,000 barrels of apples, notwithstanding the fact that 
most of the orchards are young, having nearly all been destroyed by the fire 
of 1881, Plums are a certain crop and frequently yield 300 bushels per acre sell- 
ing in our home markets at about §2.00 per bushel. 

The county is bounded by water, navigable for large boats, on three sides, by 
Saginaw bay on the west and Lake Huron on the north and east, which results 
in three weeks later autumn and frosts than occur a hundred miles south of it. 
The ice in the lakes results in a later spring and accounts for the exceptionally 
fine fruit, as it delays the budding until after danger of frosts have passed. 
The land is not hilly but has a gradual slope from the center to the lakes 
being about 175 feet above the level of the lakes in the center, affording fine 
facilities for drainage with little artificial help. 

Originally the timber was diversified, consisting of maple, beech, oak, elm, ash, 
hemlock, pine, and cedar. The eastern part of the county was swept over by 
the fire of 1881, leaving but little green timber, but there is still considerable 
in the western part. The pine has been principally cut though there is suffi- 
cient pine, hemlock, and cedar for home consumption. There are probably 50,000 
acres of green timber in . the county. There are about 150,000 acres of improved 
laud in the county worth on an average about 1-30 per acre, and about 250,000 
acres of unimproved land worth from 810 to 815 per acre according to location. 

This county is not excelled in America as a grass county. Two tons per acre 
is an average yield of hay. Timothy and clover appear to seed themselves as 
they grow abundantly wherever the fire has killed the timber. The soil is 
usually a clay loam. The burnt timber lands can be cleared for from S5 to 810 
per acre and when cleared leave no stumps. Pine stumps in this clay soil burn 
out and leave no roots. The manufactures of the county are at present limited 
to salt, lumber, grindstones, scythe stones, staves and heading, lime and cement, 
though there is a fine opportunity for many other industries. Salt is manufact- 
ured at Caseville, Port Hope, and Sand Beech to the extent of about 50,000 
barrels per annum. Of late years the lumber manufactured is limited to about 
ten or twelve million feet per year. There are two grindstone quarries a Grind- 
stone City, employing about three hundred men, paying good wages. At Bayport 
the stone and lime quarries employ about one hundred men. At Sebewaing are 
two coal mines employing about one hundred and fifty men and producing about 
600 tons of fine bituminous coal daily. 

The streams of the county are from 25 to .30 miles long, rising near the center 
and, with a gradual fall of ten feet to the mile, empty into Saginaw Bay and 
Lake Huron. They are Cass river. Pinnebog river. Pigeon river. Willow creek, 
Bird creek and Sebewaing river. There is no water power of any consequence. 
The chief villages are Bad Axe, the county seat. Sebewaing and Sand Beach 
with about 1,200 population each. The county has a population of over 30,000. 
There are large fisheries at Port Austin and Sand Beech, but no large vessel 



238 Michigan and its Eesources. 

interests. The markets are exceptionally good. With deep water around three 
sides of the county, connecting ■ with all eastern lake ports, and four railroads 
intersecting every part of the county, freight rates are very reasonable. Bad Axe 
has twb railroads and there are one hundred miles of railroad in the county. 

There are over fifty churches in the county, so located as to afford all an 
opportunity to worship according to their creed, the churches being of nearly 
all denominations. There are 110 schools in the county and but few are so 
situated but what the schools are convenient for them. 

The wages for farm labor run from one dollar to a dollar and a half per day, 
or from eighteen to twenty-five dollars per month, and board. Skilled labor com- 
inands from $2.50 to $5 per day. The great lakes abound with all kinds of 
fish. The game of the county consists of deer, bears, partridges, ducks and quail. 
The birds are particularly plentiful. 

SAND BEACH A^ILLAGE. 

BY A. H. BROWNE. 

The village of Sand Beach, the most important town in Huron county, stands 
well in the lead of being classified among the cities of Michigan at no distant 
day. Nature has endowed it with all that is necessary to make it deserving 
of the flattering recognition it receives. Sand Beach is situated 120 miles from 
Detroit on the shore of Lake Huron. The government harbor of refuge, costing 
82,000,000, lies at the foot of the town and is a haven for all shipping on the 
great lakes. The village slopes back from the town by a system of terraces, 
the town proper being located on an elevation that affords the finest natural 
drainage in the world. A number of industries have already sought this place 
and are dispensing to the world the necessities of life. Sand Beach is the ter- 
minus of that division of the F. & P. M. railroad which bears its name, and 
the water and railroad privileges provide it with the best shipping facilities of 
any town in Michigan. A fine system of water works offers exceilent fire pro- 
tection, as well as water for ordinary use. Its inducements to manufacturing 
industries are unsurpassed, a 810,000 bonus now awaiting some enterprising man- 
ufacturer. Within the last two years one of the finest mineral waters in the 
country has been discovered at this place, and its large bath house is daily 
visited by anxious patients who hesitate not in proclaiming the efficacy of the 
waters. 

The resources of tliis thriving town are without equal, and its 1,500 inhabitants 
are enterprising and progressive. The climate of this part of Michigan is per- 
fect, and the beauty of the town, coupled with this advantage, makes it a 
healthful resort, and hundreds of tourists find their way here in summer. 

INGHAM COUNTY. 

Ingham county was organized in 1838. It is bounded on the north by Clinton 
and Shiawassee, on the east by Livingston, on the south by Jackson, and on the 
west by Eaton. It has an area of 576 square miles, and had a population in 1890 
of 37,G66. Mason, a town of 1,875 inhabitants, is the county seat. Lansing, the cap- 
ital of the State, a city of 18,000 inhabitants, is located in the northwestern part 
of the county. The State School for the Blind, the Industrial School for Boys, and 
the State Agricultural College, are also located in and about Lansing. 

The surface of the country is gently rolling, just enough so to furnish fair 
drainage. It is watered mainly by the Cedar river, although the Grand enters the 
county on its western border and tiows through Lansing township and city. There are 
good water powers at Lansing on the Grand and at Okemos on the Cedar rivers. 
The soil on the original oak openings is somewhat sandy, while on the timbered 
lands it is a clay or black loam, with clay subsoil. The prevailing varieties of timber 
are beech, maple, ash, oak, elm, basswood, and tamarack. Wheat is the staple crop, 
although the soil of this county is well adapted to grass, corn and oats. In fact 
all grains and vegetables do well, with the exception of barley. All fruits usually 
raised in this latitude are found in Ingham county. Large quantities of apples are 
annually shipped to tlie Chicago market. 

The cost of clearing ranges from SIO to S20 per acre, with good wood markets in 
every direction. There are no government or State lands in the market, with the 




Sand Beach Village. 




Sand Beach Harbor of Refuge. 



COSTING $2,000,000. 



Michigan by Counties. 2'6'J 

exception of 80 acres of school land which was subject to entry 1890. The timbered 
or wood lands are held by the owners of improved farms for the timber, and are valued 
at from $10 to 825 per acre. There are two State roads which were built many 
years ago, and which are kept in good order. The ground freezes by Nov. 15, and 
remains frozen until April 1. Snow falls about December 1, but the sleighing is 
by no means continuous. Spring work generally commenceB by April 1. The schools 
are all good — those of the villages and larger towns jjarticularly so. At Lansing 
there is a fine high school which would De a credit to any city in the land. The 
principal industries are agriculture and manufacturing. Lansing has of late become 
quite a manufacturing city. There are extensive agricultural implement and engine 
works at this place, while at Williamston and Webberville the manufacture of barrel 
heading, staves, etc., is extensively engaged in. Common labor is in fair demand, 
particularly during the warm seasons. 

The Chicago & Grand Trunk Railroad, Detroit, Lansing & Northern, Jackson. Lan- 
sing & Saginaw, Lansing branch of the Michigan Southern, and the Grand Rapids 
branch of the Michigan Central, all traverse the county in different directions, 
placing every township in the county within easy reach of the besit markets. 

lONLl COUNTY, 
BY E. J. WEIGHT, OF IONIA. 

Ionia county was organized by the territorial legislsture in 1831, is bounded north 
by Montcalm, east by Clinton, south by Eaton and Barry and west by Kent, It 
appreciates its friendly neighbors, but is as independent of the outside world as any 
community of equal size. Its lands are watered by many streams, and its undulating 
surface is richly productive. Its rivers furnish valuable water power at several 
points. The native fish of the Grand, Maple and Flat rivers and their tributaries, 
anil of several small lakes, have been reinforced within the last five years by 1,500,000 
wall-eyed pike, 500.000 brook trout, 20,000 eels and 1,000 carp, supplied by the 
State Fish Commissioner and planted by the Ionia County Fishing Club and 
others, and furnish rare sport and valuable food products. 

No finer farms than those of Ionia county can be found in the State. Their value 
is attested by the many handsome farm residences and fine farm buildings. The 
price of farming lands range from $30 to $75 with buildings, and S25 to $40 without, 
and there are numerous highly cultivated farms that would bring $100 per acre 
if they were open to purchase. Wheat, corn, oats, barley, hay, potatoes, rutabagas, 
turnips, beets, and other cereals and roots yield abundant crops. The value of 
the frviit crop is large, and the many advantages of both soil and climate for fruit 
production are receiving constanaly increasing recognition. Apples, pears, grapes, 
plums and other fruits gi"0W to a degree of perfection, and Ionia strawberries have no 
superiors and few equals. Ionia county cattle, horses, sheep and swine are notable 
among the exhibits at State and district fairs, and are in wide demand by breeders. 
The high grade wool is an important and valuable product. Though the land is 
principally cleared, there is considerable timber still standing, oak, maple and beech 
predominating. The pioneers of the county are largely from western New York. 
Sturdy men possessing enterprise, intelligence and knowledge of affairs, and women 
of many virtues. They early took a prominent part in the affairs of the territory, 
and with the growth and advancement of the State to which they contributed largely, 
they and their descendants and successors have received merited recognition. Those 
who are wise enough or sufficiently fortunate to cast their lot among the people 
of Ionia county find themselves in the midst of churches presided over by learned 
and eloquent pastors, schools that rank as the best in the State, and social advantages 
rivaling those of the much older eastern states. Among such a people commerce is 
well sustained. The stores of the county metropolis — Ionia — as well as of its sister 
city — Belding — and the numerous thriving villages about the county, are as well 
siipi)lied as those of the larger cities. The thrift of the pepple is made evident by 
the strong banks to be found at Ionia, Portland and Belding as well as in smaller 
communities. The value of Ionia farms is attested by the recognized fact that these 
banks are always well supplied with farmer's money, which they loan with safely 
conservative liberality in aid of legitimate enterprises. 

The handsome city of Ionia (population nearly 6,000), is the county seat. Several 
important and well established manufacturing establishments are located in this city, 
notably the D, L. & N. car shops, the wagon works, furniture, clothing and cigar 
factories, pottery and pickling works. A fine creamery gives added facilities for the 



240 Michigan and its Eesources. 

disposition of an important farm product. The State House of Correction and the 
Asylum for Dangerous and Criminal Insane are located just outside the city limits. 
Ionia has good reason to be proud of its handsome Court House, one of the best in 
the State. 

The infant city of Belding (population 3,000) was a commons less than a half a score 
of years ago. Silk manufacturing made it what it is, and today it not only has two 
of the most important silk factories in the country, but prosperous furniture, casket, 
fire extinguisher, basket and paper box factories, and is the manufacturing center of 
the county and the wonder of the State. There are good roads about the county and 
shipping facilities are ample and rates advantageous. The main line, the western 
division and the Stanton branch of the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad and the 
Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee Railroad, traverse the county, all but the first 
passing through the city of Ionia. 

The advantages of settlement in Ionia county are numerous. Taxation is not 
burdensome, a two mill tax more than sufficing for all county purposes, while town- 
ship taxes are proportionately light, and municipal taxes below the average. The 
county is free from debt and the superior system of schools has been established and 
maintained without incurring any indebtedness worth consideration. The municipal 
indebtedness reported in the last census was confined to three townships. $4,800; 
one village, S2,000; and the city of Ionia. 847,000, of which 830.000 is the bonded 
indebtedness incurred several years ago for a system of water-works worth several 
times the amount of the bonds. 

Ionia is a county of beautiful homes, productive farms, excellent shipping facilities 
and superior educational and social advantages, and has within its borders enough 
prosperous communities engaged in manufactures and commerce to give to the farmer 
a valuable home market, and to both capital and labor remunerative employment. 

IOSCO COUNTY. 

Iosco county was organized in 1857. It is bounded on the north by Alcona, 
on the east by Lake Huron, on the south by Arenac (the new county formed 
from the north part of Bay), and on the west by Ogemaw. It has an area of 
590 square miles, and had a population in 1890 of 15,224. Tawas City, a town 
of 1,544 inhabitants, is the county seat. The surface of the county is gently 
rolling, and is watered by the Au Sable, the Au Gres, the Tawas, and numer- 
ous creeks, inland lakes and spring brooks. Most of these streams afford a fair 
water power. There is considerable swamp land timbered with cedar or ash, 
nearly all of which is reclaimable. About one-tenth of the county is a sandy 
plain. On the uplands the soil is mostly a sandy loam with clay subsoil. There 
is very little stiff clay. On the lowlands the soil is entirely muck with clay or 
sand subsoil. On the plains the soil is very light, but is well adapted to graz- 
ing purposes. TJie timber is pine, hemlock, beech, maple, black and white ash, 
cedar, and some tamarack. 

On the tillable lands, wheat, oats, rye, peas, beans, potatoes, etc., are grown very 
successfully. Rye and grass do well on the sand plains. Potatoes yield from 
100 to 400, and onions from 400 to 600 bushels to the acre. All the hardier 
varieties of apples do well, and plums and cherries grow to great perfection, no 
trouble being experienced from insects. The home markets consume all the 
fruit that has yet been produced in this county. 

It costs about 820 per acre to clear the timbered lands, with fair wood mar- 
kets at the villages along the Tawas and Bay County railroad, hard wood aver- 
aging 82.50 per cord. There is 51,800 acres of land subject to sale or entry. 
Good unimproved lands, with all of the timber standing, excepting the pine, can 
be had at from 83 to 810 per acre. There are also thousands of acres of 
"burnt lands" of good quality of soil, on which all the timber has been 
destroyed, which are held at from 83 to 85 per acre. The "stump lands"' from 
whicli white pine has been cut are good farming lands, and the prices range 
as above, while the stump lands from which the Norway pine alone has been cut are 
considered as second rate, and of no value for farming purposes. The Iosco 
and Ogemaw State road runs through the center of the county from east to 
west, and connects Tawas City with West Branch. The highways generally are 
new, but quite numerous, and the county is well opened up by them. 

Snow falls by November 15, and attains an average depth of 12 inches. The 
ground seldom freezes more than eight inches, unless the snow fall is light. 
Plowing begins by April 15. 



Michigan by Counties. 



241 



The public schools, particularly those along the shore, are in a good condi- 
tion, great care being taken that a high standard shall be maintained. 

Lumbering is the main industry. Ties, telegraph poles and posts are cut in 
large quantities. The manufacture of salt and plaster is also extensively engaged 
in. Labor is in good demand, and the demand will increase as the county 
develops. The Tawas and Bay County Railroad crosses the county, connecting 
Tawas with the Mackinac division of the Michigan Central Railroad. The Bay 
City and Alpena Railroad enters the southwest corner of the county and trav- 
erses the entire length of the county, passing out of the northeast corner. The 
county has forty miles of coast line and several good harbors. During the 
season of navigation there is a large amount of shipping to and from these 
shore towns, steamers from Bay city and Alpena arriving daily. 



IRON COUNTY. 



BY HON. C. T. ROBERTS, CRYSTAL FALLS, MICH. 

Iron county is situated in the upper peninsula of Michigan and is nearly the 
geographical center of the great Michigan iron belt, being bounded on the north 
by Houghton and Baraga counties, on the east by Marquette and Dickinson 
counties, on the south by the state of Wisconsin, and on the west by Ontonagon 

and Gogebic counties. It was organ- 
ized in the year 1885 from territory 
taken from the counties of Marquette 
and Menominee. Few counties in 
Michigan have been endowed with 
resources equal in number and vol- 
ume to those of Iron county. Locat- 
ed at an altitude of 990 feet above 
the level of Lake Michigan, its lofty, 
picturesque hills and timber clad 
plateaus are free from the germs of 
disease and obnoxious gasses that 
render many equally beautiful sec- 
tions of Michigan undesirable habi- 
tations. Gushing from the closets of 
its mineral wealth, sparkle forth 
many fountains of crystalline water 
laden with mineral properties of 
medicinal value. 

Iron county is the haven of the 
invalid, a veritable sanitarium. 
Underlying a goodly portion of this 
beautiful territory is nature's hidden 
wealth of ores and rocks, not a lit- 
tle of which man's diligence has 
brought to light and into the world of 
usefulness, developing their sources 
in a way that would afford support 
to the people of the county were 
they suddenly deprived of the other 
diversified resources. From these 
inexhavistible reservoirs of metallic 
wealth were taken and shipped to 
the markets in 1892, 586,620 tons of 
Iron County Court HouPe. ^^.^^ ^^g j^ H^jg connection it must 

also be noted that the mineral lands of Iron county have been as yet only 
partially explored. 

Ribbing the hills whose bosoms yield this wealth of ore are vast quantities 
of valuable stone granite of various hues and textures, all susceptible of the 
highest polish. Much of the territory of this county is yet clad in nature's 
garment of hard woods, sugar, bird's eye and curly maple; yellow birch, and 
hemlock, all of which are most available, both in point of price and transpor- 
tation facilities, for the requirements of the manufacturer. A considerable amount 

31 




242 Michigan and its Eesources. 

of pine is also standing in the northern portion of the county. Through these 
tracts of wooded land flows many streams, the Paint, Michigamme, Net, Deer, 
Iron, and Hemlock rivers being the larger; all of which afford ample water 
power facilities besides being liquid highways over which the pi'oduct of the 
forest may be transported. 

Nor is the soil of Iron county productive alone of mineral and timber wealth. 
Its fertile plateaus, when stripped of their natural robes of hard wood, yield rich 
crops of wheat, oats, potatoes, hay and garden vegetables, all of which find a 
ready market at good prices. No class of people are more thrifty and pros- 
perous than Iron county's farmers. The present transportation facilities of this 
county are adequate for any demand, no matter how rapidly increasing, for many 
years to come. Two railroads, the Chicago & North Arestern and the Milwaukee 
& Northern, with their several branches, traverse its territory in all parts, with 
stations at accessable points. Its highways are numerous and well kept and a 
majority of its bridges are of iron. 

As the retreat of the sportsman Iron county has few peers, its woods abound 
in game, deer, bear and wood fowl of various species; and every stream teems 
with speckled trout, while in some of its lakes whiteflsh and herring thrive, 
besides an abundance of fish of more common kind. Tlie banks of the many 
beautiful lakes that thickly dot its rugged bosom are tempting camping grounds 
.. for the resorter, the sportsman and the health seeker. 
The population of the county in 1890 was 4,432. 

Crystal Falls, the county seat of Iron county, is a town of 2,500 inhabitants. 
It enjoys a most picturesque location and is absolutely free from the menace of 
disease It is peopled by progressive inhabitants, is a little city of metropolitan 
ideas, and has all modern equipments, such as electric light, water plant, etc. 
The high school of Crystal Falls has no superior in the State, and its many 
religious societies are in thrifty circumstances. Within Crystal Falls are repre- 
sented nearly all the secret orders of this country, among which are several 
maeonic orders, including a commandery ot Knights Templar. 

In these few paragraphs have been written only a few of the diversified 
resources, advantages and inducements which Iron county is extending to the 
manufacturer, the farmer, the capitalist, the sportsman and the health seeker. 
This volume might easily be devoted to the work which this page has attempted 
to accomplish without clanger of repetition or exaggeration. All that present 
circumstances afford in addition, however, is the cordial commendation to all- 
come and see. 

ISABELLA COUNTY. 

BY HELEN E. C. BALMEK. 

Isabella county was organized in 1859 and is geographically the center of the 
lower peninsula of Michigan. Bounded on the north by Clare county, on the 
east by Midland, on the south by Gratiot and Montcalm and on the west^by 
Mecosta. It has an area ot 5TG square miles and in 1890 a population of 18,784, 
being an increase of 6,625 over that of the census of 1880. The eastern^ and 
northeastern portions of the covinty are comparatively level. The remaining 
portions are rolling (affording excellent drainage), but not hilly. 

The Chippewa. Salt river and many smaller streams flow through the county, 
and afford, together with the facilities for transportation, excellent advantages 
for fishing. 

The soil is varied, but good, some parts being of black sandy loam, inter- 
spersed with yellow eand. The subsoil is generally of clay. 

Of the different kinds of timber, in large quantities may be found maple, 
beech, pine, hemlock, oak, cedai-, white and black ash, rock and salt elm. 

The railroad facilities are good. The F. .t P. M., the D. L. & N. and the F. & A. 
A. make good connections with all points and offer the best of accommodations 
for transportation. 

The water is of excellent quality and in great abundance, there being no less 
than eleven flowing wells within a distance of eight miles. 

The rapid current and fall of the Chippewa afford good opportunities for 
manufacturing, and its waters are now being utilized for that purpose. 

31 



Michigan by Counties. 243 

Cost of land depends, as in all counties, upon location. Good farms can be 
bought for from 840 to S50 per acre, with easy terms of payment. There are about 
150,000 acres of good wild land that can be made into as good farms as any 
in the county. These lands possess a first-class soil, and can be bought for 
prices ranging from three to five dollars per acre. 

Wheat, corn, oats, hay and clover seed and all crops that can be grown in 
this latitude are to be found here. Fruits are also grown successfully. In fact 
Isabella county apples are obtaining a noted reputation. 

Attractions to settlers are found in the opportunities for power for manu- 
factories, unexcelled school advantages, namely, a school house in every school 
district, three graded schools with a high school placed upon the Normal list, 
the new Michigan Central Normal School, with Prof. Bellows at its head, the 
government Indian Industrial School and parochial school. Where can be greater 
attractions to the parents of those who are to be the men and women of the 
future? 

All religious denommations are well represented, and churches are being built 
throughout the county, the city of Mt. Pleasant alone containing seven. 

Saw mills, grist mills and factories furnish employment to many. Labor is 
always in good demand and well paid. 

Isabella county contains the villages of Loomis, Dushville, Calkinsville, Isabella 
City. Blanchard and the thriving town of Shepherd, situated on the T. & A. A. 
Railroad, and the city of Mt. Pleasant with a population of over .'5.000. 

Postoffices are established throughout the county at convenient distances. 

The peojjle are mostly from the states of New York, Ohio and Indiana, with 
nearly every state in the union represented. They are hospitable, kind and 
intelligent, welcoming to their midst all who seek for a new home in the 
beautiful county of Isabella. 

ISLE ROYAL COUNTY. 

Isle Royal county was organized in 1875. The county comprises Isle Royal and 
the islands adjacent. It is located in the northwestern part of Lake Superior. It 
has an area of 252 square miles, and had a population in 1880 of 55 inhabitants. 
Minong, a lake port near the upper extremity of Isle Royal, is the county seat. 
The surface of the country is mountainous, with large-sized swamps at intervals. 
The land is so rocky that the soil is practically valueless. The timber is mainly a 
light, scrubby, bush maple, balsam, spruce and cedar. No crops or fruits have 
been raised on these islands. There is 21,868 acres of government and State land 
subject to sale or entry. The winters are six months in length, and snow falls to 
a depth of five feet. 

What is pronounced by government engineers, and proved not only by scientific 
but by practical test, to be the best curbing and paving stone in the United States, 
superior to the Medina sandstone or any of the granites, exists in unlimited 
quantity on Siscowit point. Isle Royal. This stone can be laid down on the docks 
of any of the lake cities at a cost not much in excess of half the amount which 
is being paid for the paving material now being used in Chicago and other lake 
cities. 

There are also good fishing grounds in among the islands. Steamers call at 
the lake ports quite frequentlj' during the suniQier season. 

The history of Isle Royal is somewhat traditional. It has been organized into 
a county, surveyed and laid off into townships. County organizations were never 
very prosperous or permanent. In fact its population was very transient. At 
some timec it had none, then again fishermen and copper hunters would locate 
temporarily. The island does not seem to be a part of any territory. Its geo- 
logical formation would indicate its origin from upheaval. Indications of copper 
deposits are very prominent and several attempts have been made to .mine it, 
all of which were failures financially. What the future has in store for Isle 
Royal no one knows. 

KALAMAZOO COUNTY. MICHIGAN. 

BY FRANK LITTLE. 

This is one of the best agricultural counties in the State. It is located mid- 
way between Detroit and Caicago on the line of the M. C. R R., 140 miles by 



244 Michigan and its K-esodrces. 

rail west from Detroit, and 139 miles east from Chicago. Kalamazoo county is 
bounded north by Allegan and Barry, east by Calhoun, south by St. Joseph and 
west by Van Buren. It comprises 16 townships, each six miles square, total 
area 576 square miles. Altitude above sea level 850 feet, above Lake Michigan 
269 feet. 

It was surveyed by U. S. government in 1829; organized in 1830, and offered 
for sale in 1831. By treaty stipulations the Indians vacated the county in 1833. 
First white settlement at Prairie Ronde in 1828. Present population estimated 
at 42,000. eight-tenths American. 

The general surface of the county is undulating, somewhat broken along the 
margin of streams. General character of the soil alluvial with a stiff substratum 
of loam, gravel and clay in some portions. Mainly dry. About seventy-tive per 
cent prairie and oak openings, balance heavy timbered bottoms and marsh. 
Native timber consists of all the varieties of oak, maple, beech, elm, hickory, 
black walnut, cherry and butternut. But a small portion comparatively of the 
original trees remain. Second growth forest trees are now maturing rapidly and 
will soon furnish a medium supply for timber and fuel. 

Excellent transportation facilities in various directions are furnished by the 
Michigan Central, Grand Rapids & Indiana, Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, 
Chicago, Kalamazoo & Saginaw, Kalamazoo and South Haven, Michigan & Ohio, 
and the Grand Trunk lines. 

Pure water, ample supply of good quality throughout the county secured by 
wells of moderate depth. The Kalamazoo river is the principal stream with a 
large number of tributaries, all well stocked with speckled trout. Inland lakes 
abound well supplied with edible fish, bass, pickerel, perch, sunfish and other 
varieties. 

Gull Lake, in the northeastern part of the county, is a magnificent body of 
water nearly seven miles long, two miles wide and in places 100 feet deep. 
Twelve miles distant from the city of Kalamazoo. A very popular summer resort. 
Two steamers, sail and row boats. Excellent fishing. 

Health conditions are of a high order. No climatic diseases. Cultivated and 
uncultivated lands vary in prices from twenty dollars to one hundred dollars per 
acre according to quality, character of improvements and location. No U. S., 
railroad or State lands for sale in the county. Soil productive, wheat, oats, corn, 
barley, beans, potatoes, hay, rye, apples, pears, grapes and small fruits are 
grown successfully. Much attention is paid to raising' thoroughbred and high 
grade stock. 

Estimated average annual product of the county. Two thousand nine hundred 
and ten farms averaging 110 acres each. Wheat, 1,000,000 bushels; corn, 1,700,- 
000 bushels of ears; oats, 775,000 bushels; potatoes. 105,000 bushels; clover seed, 
5,000 bushels; hay, 50,000 tons; wool, 410,000 pounds. Total stock on hand; 
horses, 10,800 head; cows. 8,500; sheep. 55,000; hogs, 15,000. Kalamazoo ranks 
second in the State for the largest number of acres in wheat. 

Assessed valuation of real and personal property in 1892, §21,382,372. Real 
actual wealth of the county estimated to be upwards of 32,000.000 dollars. 

Celery culture at Kalamazoo takes high rank as a special and important branch 
of agricultural industry, having grown to gigantic proportions. It is estimated 
that the celery gardens embrace 2.500 acres, furnishing employment to nearly 
3,000 laborers, men, women and children, mostly Hollanders. Kalamazoo celery 
has attained a world wide reputation. It takes precedence in all the leading 
markets, being shipped in large quantities daily throughout the season. The 
annual product of celery from Kalamazoo is valued at 1.000,000 dollars. Kala- 
mazoo, a beautiful, thriving inland city of more than 20.000 inhabitants is located 
near the geographical center of the county. Its broad, shady avenues, paved streets, 
parks, lawns, tiower gardens, pure water, churches colleges, seminaries, schools, 
public library, electric lighting and railway, and neat comfortable residences all 
evince enterprise and elicit universal commendation. 

Kalamazoo is noted for its varied and extensive manufactures. A large number 
of operatives of both sexes are employed. Estimated annual output 7,500,000 dol- 
lars. As an evidence of business activity and magnitude far excelling other cities 
in proportion to their population. Kalamazoo postoffice ranks third in the 
State. Its annual income 852,000. Value of building 880,000. The United States 
depository for southwestern Michigan. 

This imperfect sketch briefly outlines the wonderful growth of an inland county 
of Michigan from a wilderness condition in 1830, but a little more than sixty 
years ago. 



Michigan by Counties. 245 

KALKASKA COUNTY. 
BY A. A. BLEAZBY. 

The principal industries are lumbering and farming. The kimbering interest 
is well established and quite general. The farming interests are now taking a 
larger development in our county, and so far our farmers have been very successful. 
The products of the farm are wheat, rye, oats, tubers generally, and for the last 
five years a good deal of dent corn has been raised. All grains grown in south- 
ern Michigan do well here. The face of the country is gently rolling, and the 
soils are sandy, or sand and gravel loam with a mixtvire of light clay. It is 
what is known as warm, quick soil. Those who have given their attention to 
fruits have succeeded beyond their expectations. They have raised successfully 
pears, cherries, plums, apples and all sorts of small berries. Originally the land 
stood one-third pine and two-thirds hardwood. The pine timber is very largely 
cut. The hardwood timber, except where a few farms have been cleared, 
remains an almost unbroken forest. The principal hard woods are maple, grey 
elm, rock elm. basswood, beech, and some cherry and white ash. The hardwood 
timber lands average in value about $10 per acre. To clear up the hardwood 
timber lands and fit the same for the plough, after the saw-logs have been taken 
off, costs about §15 per acre. The manufacturing so far has been along the 
line of the lumber and timber products, such as shingles, lath and flooring. We 
have institutions manufacturing all sorts of woodenware, such as pails, chopping 
trays, butter bowls and ladles, and almost everything that is made in those 
lines. So far, the manufacturing interests are centered in Kalkaska, the county 
seat, a town of 2,000 inhabitants, and in South Boardman, a town on the G. R. 
& I. railroad, of about 500 population. There are no navigable streams in the 
county, except as the Manistee river and the Boardman river are used for the 
running of saw logs. There is but little water power in the Manistee river, and 
that of the Boardman river is utilized at Kalkaska and South Boardman, but 
neither of these are developed to more than a small percentage of their capaci- 
ties. The Rapid river, rising in the northeast portion of the county and running 
in a southwest direction to Torch river, is one continuous chain of water priv- 
ileges. There are only two or three water powers developed in its entire 
length. There are no mineral interests in the county. The chief towns are 
Kalkaska, South Boardman, Leetsville, Westwood. The market for the products 
of the farm, so far, is largely a home market, as the lumber interests consume 
a great amount of hay and grain, thus giving to the farmer the benefit of the 
general market and freight added on all he has to sell. The only exception to 
this is the potato crop, which has developed very largely during the last three 
or four years, and in the raising of which the farmer has taken much interest. 
There is no crop here more certain or more profitable than the potato crop. 
Our schools are well developed for a young county, especially the one in 
Kalkaska village, which has seven departments presided over by competent 
teachers, and is the equal of the better class of graded schools throughout the 
State. Our church interests are represented by organizations of Congregational, 
Baptist. Methodist and Disciple, all of which seem to be prospering and are 
well supported. Our present railroad facilities are the G. R. & I. only. Wages 
for the common laborer are well maintained here, as the cheapest labor earns 
81.25 per day. Woodsmen get from 81 to 81.50 per day and board. The mill 
and yard men average 81.75 to 82 per day, and the skilled laborer in our better 
class of mills earns from S3 to 85 per day. Farm labor generally brings from 
815 to 820 per month and board. All our streams are homes of the trout and 
grayling. In no portion of the State are waters so richly stocked with these 
gamey fish. The hunter finds here what interests him, the partridge, pheasant, 
woodcock, deer, fox, and occasionally bears. The development of iron in this 
vicinity has made a market for all the rough grades of wood and timber. 
After the sawing timber has been removed, this wood cut four feet long and 
delivered to the kilns along the railroad brings 81.35 per cord, and this pays 
the farmer for what he desires to have done, namely, the clearing up of his 
farm. The farmer in this country has learned that his land will produce better, 
and seems to have greater staying qualities, when as much of the forest growth 
as possible can be removed from the land and not burned upon it, as was 
formerly done. The lands in this vicinity which are covered with pine are 
largely if not entirely a light sandy soil, and so far have not been put to any 
farming purposes. It is doubtful if at present there is any known way of 
making them profitable to the farmer. 



240 Michigan and its Resoukces. 

KENT COUNTY. 

Kent county, in the west central portion of the lower peninsula, consists of twenty- 
four surveyed townships in six tiers, and ranges west from 9 to 12 inclusive, each 
township having a civil organization of its own. 

Beautiful Grand River drains a fertile valley traversing the county from east to 
west, the sides of which rise as they recede, and down which flow., over cascades, 
the spring waters of the Thornapple, the Flat and the Rogue rivers. 

The whole county, somewhat level in the north but more rolling in the south, is 
dotted here and there with beautiful lakes abounding in fish, affording pleasure 
and recreation to the rural population, as well as to that of the neighboring cities 
and villages. 

The soil, varying from a limy sand and gravel to the heaviest clay, is adapted 
to raising cereals and vegetables with great profit, while the choicest varieties 
of fruits of all kinds grow to a perfection attained only in western Michigan. 

Very little timber lands, excepting that set aside by each farmer for his own 
use, remain and while there are yet many farms in the first stages of improve- 
ment, the county as a whole is well developed, and prices are from S25 to $50 
per acre for those some distance from the county seat, and from S50 to S200 for those 
from one to four miles from its city limits, according to location and quality of 
soil. 

The climate is comparatively temperate, rarely exceeding 85 degrees, with an 
average of about 68 in summer; or below zero, with an average of about 25 
above in winter. 

Grand Rapids, the metropolis of western Michigan, the second city in the State, 
containing 90,000 souls, is the capitol of the county. It is surrounded in the 
county by such villages as Sparta, Byron Center, Grandville, Rockford, Ada, 
Caledonia and Lowell, with many smaller ones more isolated, while the whole 
of western Midhigan contributes to its prosperity. 

The county is traversed by railroads centei-ing from all directions to the city, 
which ships its immense product to the world. Its furniture has no bounds, 
its land plaster and gypsum products no rivals. 

The school system of the county and city is of the best, and the best is 
made of it. 

In the city and villages, manufacturing, and in the country agriculture, horti 
culture and pomology are all extensive. 

Grand river, preparations for which are made to deepen from Grand Repids 
to its mouth, a distance of forty miles, so as to be navigable for lake vessels. 

Grand River already furnishes an immense water power, which the improve- 
ment will increase, by adding largely to its fall. Flat river, pouring into the 
Grand at Lowell, is now furnishing power to an electric plant, to distribute 
electricity for manufacturing and other purposes to the city of Grand Rapids, 
and the Thornapple. a few miles nearer the city, offers like opportunities. 

Preliminary surveys and preparations have been made to deepen Grand river 
from Grand Rapids to its mouth so as to make it navigable for lake vessels. 
Virtually making the city a seaport. The importance of this work could hardly 
be overestimated. 

It is claimed that Grand Rapids manufactures more furniture than any other 
city in the world, which taken with the immense amount of other productions 
the question of transportation or shipping is necessarily of vast importance. 

KEWEENAW COUNTY. 

Keweenaw county was organized in 1861. It is bounded on the north, east 
and west by Lake Superior and on the south by Houghton. It has an area of 
360 square miles, and had in 1890 a population of 2.89-4. Eagle River, a village 
of 100 inhabitants, is the county seat. The county is traversed by two ranges 
of hills, known as the north and south range. On the slopes of these hills are 
heavy growths of timber, while between the ranges the land is swampy. It is 
subj'^ct. however, to drainage, and furnishes excellent pasturage. The county is 
watered by a number of small streams flowing from the hills to the lake, and 
some of them furnish small water powers. The timber is principally beech, 
maple, pine, spruce, balsam, tamarack, ash, cedar, and occasionally black oak. The 
soil is sand and gravel, and when first cultivated yields fair root crops, after 
which it will produce hay for a few seasons. Garden vegetables do well in the 



Michigan by Counties. 247 

valleys, and potatoes yield bountifully. Strawberries of fine size and flavor are 
grown to a considerable extent. Fruits generally are not successfully cultivated. 
The wood cut finds ready sale among tlie miners or at the docks along the 
lake. 

There are 76,380 acres of public land subject to sale or entry, and there are 
some unimproved lands, from which the pine alone has been cut, but their tim- 
ber as yet is of little value, owing to their distance from the markets. There 
are good roads throughout the settled portions of the county. The seasons are 
well defined, there being fully six months of winter and six months of warm 
weather, with a very even temperature. The ground does not freeze in winter 
owing to the depth of snow. The schools in this county are said to be excel- 
lent. The principal industries are lumbering, the cutting of ties, posts and tel- 
egraph poles, fishing and mining. Labor is always in good demand, high wages 
being paid to the right sort of men. 

There are no railroads as yet in the county, but the largest vessels call at 
several of the lake ports during the summer season, affording every opportunity 
for the commercial transactions of the county. 

Keweenaw county is in the copper belt, and in the past quite an amount of 
copper was mined, but owing to cost of mining and low price of copper the 
work was abandoned. It is. however, not dead, but quietly resting, and great 
developments may yet be made there and some rich findings. 

LAKE COUNTY. 

Lake county was organized in 1871. It is bounded on the north by Manistee 
and Wexford, on the east by Osceola, on the south by Newaygo, and on the west 
by Mason. It has an area of about 576 square miles, and had a population in 1890 
of 6,505. Baldwin is the county seat. 

The surface of the county is level or gently rolling There is some swamp land 
which is ready all reclaimable; also large tracts of sandy land, most of which is 
tillable. The county is well watered with springs, spring streams and lakes. The 
headwaters of the Pere Mai-quette, Pine, Sauble and Manistee rivers are within the 
borders of the county. Excellent water power is found at a number of points. 
The soil on the sand plains is of red and yellow sand, with no subsoil. The pre- 
vailing soil on the beech and maple lands is generally of a loamy, gravelly nature 
with clay subsoil. The timber is pine, hemlock, beech, maple, rock elm, ash, cherry, 
oak, white cedar, basswood. birch, tamarack and spruce. Wheat, potatoes, corn, 
buckwheat, ruta bagas, millet, vines of all descriptions, beans, peas, rye. timothy 
and clover — in fact all crops peculiar to this latitude — are raised in Lake county. 
Apples, pears, plums, grapes, and the smaller fruits do well. Many young orchards 
are just beginning to bear. The cost of clearing averages S20 per acre on the 
heavily timbered lands, while on the plains the cost will average from 85 to $10. 
The wood produced finds a ready market at the railroad stations and at the char- 
coal kilns at Luther. The railroad companies buy all of the ties and posts which 
are offered. There is 4,891 acres of public lands for sale or entry. Unimproved 
lands are held at from 83 to SIO per acre, while improved farming lands range 
from S3 to 825 per acre, according to location and improvements. Hard wood is 
rapidly rising in value, as there is a great foreign demand. There are large tracts 
of "stump lands," also of "plains land," ranging in price from 50 cents to $5 per 
acre, which eventually will make good agricultural lands. There are no State 
roads, but the county roads are uniformly good for a new county. 

Winter sets in by November 15. Snow falls to an average depth of two and one- 
half feet, the ground rarely ever freezing. Plowing begins in April. 

The schools are comparatively few, but good, and every effort is being made to 
elevate their standard. 

There are a considerable number of lumber and shingle mills in the county. 
There are also large charcoal and chemical works at Luther. Ties, posts and poles 
are gotten out in large quantities. Labor is always in good demand, particularly 
in the lumbering districts, wages averaging S23 per month with board. The Flint 
and Pere Marquette railroad traverses the county from east to west, and a branch 
of the Grand Rapids and Indiana runs from Milton Junction to Luther. There 
are several logging roads in the county of from four to ten miles in length. The 
lands held by the railroads are for sale on time, at prices within the reach of 
every one. 



248 Michigan and its Resources. 

LAPEER COUNTY. 

Lapeer county was organized in 1835. It is bounded on the north by Tuscola and 
Sanilac, on the east by Sanilac and St. Clair, on the south by Macomb and Oak- 
land, and on the west by Genesee and Tuscola. It has an area of 666 squaie miles, 
and had, in 1890, a population of 29,213. Lapeer, a city of 2,753 inhabitants, is the 
county seat. The surface of the county is quite rolling, with very little swamp 
land. It is well watered by rivers and spring brooks. There is little available 
water power except for light work. The soil varies in the different townships from 
a sandy loam to a clay loam. The subsoil is invariably clay. The prevailing vari- 
eties of timber are, beech, maple, ash, hickory, elm and walnut. 

The principal crops are winter wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, clover and timothy. 
Apples, pears, plums and grapes succeed well; peaches only in favorable localities, 
and in favorable seasons. The small fruits and berries grow in abundance, and 
good markets are found at the railroad stations for all the surplus fruit. There are 
no government or State lands of any value in the market. 

There is considerable unimproved land, with the pine and oak cut off, which can 
be had at from 85 to S15 per acre. The soil is of good quality, well adapted to 
agriculture. The " stump lands " also have a good soil, and are rapidly being taken 
up. Improved farms range in price from 820 to SSO per acre. 

There are three State roads running north and south; one from Imlay City to the 
forks of Cass river, one from Attica to Cass river, and one from Lapeer to Lexington, 
via North Branch. The county roads are generally in a good condition. 

Snow falls in November but no sleighing is looked for before Christmas. The 
average depth is about a foot. When the fall of snow is light the ground freezes 
to the average depth of two feet. Spring plowing begins from the 20th of March to 
the first of April. 

The schools and school buildings of Lapeer county are all good. Agriculture is 
the principal industry, though lumbering, charcoal burning, and the getting out of 
ties, posts, and telegraph poles, is carried on to a considerable extent. 

Labor is in fair demand, particularly on farms during the summer season. Farm 
labor brings from '816 to 820 per month, with board. 

The Chicago & Grand Trunk, the Detroit & Bay City, its branch to Five Lakes, 
the Almont branch of the Port Huron and Northwestern, and the Pontiae, Case- 
ville and Port Austin railroads, enter the county at different points. The Otter 
lake extension of the Flint and Pere Marquette, and the Port Huron and North- 
western also touch the borders of the county, hence the farmer can find good 
markets in any direction, for anything he may have for sale. 

The numerous railroad facilities found within the borders of this county oiler 
special advantages to many kinds of manufacturing enterprises, and there is every 
prospect that Lapeer will have its full quota of factories at no distant date. 

LEELANAU COUNTY. 

BY WILLIAM HITCHCOCK, LELAND. 

Leelanau county was organized in 1863. It is bounded on the north and west 
by Lake Michigan, on the east by Grand Traverse bay, and on the south by 
Benzie and Grand Traverse. It has an area of 360 square miles, and had a 
population in 1890 of 7,914. Leland, a growing village, is the county seat. 

The entire county is a peninsula lying between Traverse bay and Lake Mich- 
igan. The surface of the country is quite rolling. There are two ridges lying 
in the same direction as the bay, and varying in altitude from a water level 
to 482 feet. Between these ridges are a few cedar swamps which are reclaim- 
able at 82.50 per acre. Also about 4.000 acres of cedar swamp at head of Carp 
lake which after the timber is removed will make fine grass lands. There are 
a few sandy plains of no considerable extent. 

The county is watered by Carp lake. Carp river and several smaller streams 
and lakes. There is a fine water power at the mouth of Carp river, there being 
a fall of about eight and one-half feet. Other water powers are found on the 
rapid streams in the interior of the county. 

The soil is a dark sandy loam of remarkable uniformity, easily worked, with 
a gravelly subsoil. There are, however, patches of clay soil in every township. 
The timber is principally beech, maple, elm, ash, hemlock, birch, cedar and 



Michigan by Counties. 249 

basswood. Wheat, rye and oats are the most successful of the grains. The quality 
of potatoes and nearly all jjarden vegetables cannot be surpassed. The entire 
county furnishes what are known as "'Traverse bay" potatoes, which command 
an extra price in the Chicago market. The orchards are new, but quite exten- 
sive and considerable surplus fruit is raised. Peaches, pears, apples, plums, and 
cherries do well wherever proper attention is paid to their cultivation. The cost 
of clearing will average from $10 to S2() per acre. There are good wood markets 
at all points where the steamers land. There is "2.282 acres of land subject to 
sale or entry. There are plenty of good, unimproved hardwood lands which can 
be had at from 84 to 810 per acre. They are all within a few miles of water 
shipping points, and the southern portions of the county find an outlet via the 
Manistee & Northeastern railroad which now passes through the south tier of 
towns and a branch is now proposed to run from Lake Ann in Benzie county 
northwest to Glen Arbor. The '" stump lands "' are really of more value to the 
settler than the timbered lands, as they have been practically cleared, and the 
soil is of a superior character. They are held at from 85 to 810 per acre. There 
are two State roads, viz: the Northport and Newaygo road, running in a south- 
erly direction through Sutton's Bay and New Mission to Traverse City, and the 
Northport, Leland and Frankfort road, leading southwestward to Manistee. The 
county is also well opened up by the local roads which are generally in a fair condi- 
tion. Snow falls late in November to an average depth of one foot. The ground 
does not freeze to any depth, and spring work generally begins by April 1. The 
summer months are tempered by the lake breezes, and the climate is usually 
delightful from May to November. 

The district and village schools are generally well attended and well kept. 
The principal industries of the county are hardwood lumbering, charcoal burn- 
ing, the cutting of ties, posts, poles, hemlock bark, and agriculture. 

Common labor is always in good demand at the mills and furnaces, wages ranging 
from 820 to 82-5 per month with board. Several large bays aflford some of the 
tinest harbors on the lakes. There are several important ports along the coast, 
where vessels to and from Chicago land for fuel, passengers and freight. Carp lake, 
an inland body of water 18 miles in length, is a great resort for sportsmen during 
the summer and fall seasons. The county is destined to become a great fruit dis- 
trict. In the spring of 189.3. it is estimated, as many fruit trees were planted as 
were already growing and fully 8200,000 worth of fruit was shipped from this county 
the previous year. 

LENAWEE COUNTY. 

BY NORMAN GEDDES, ADRIAN, MICH. 

Lenawee county was organized in 1826. Is bounded north by Jackson and 
Washtenaw, east by Monroe, south by the State of Ohio, and on the west by 
Hillsdale. The northwestern portion is somewhat hilly, the central undulating 
and the eastern and southern portions level. It has almost every variety of 
soil, producing bountiful crops of wheat, corn. oats, barley, rye, potatoes, and in 
some localities most excellent celery. Nearly all the fruits, apples, pears, peaches 
and the small fruits peculiar to this latitude, are successfully raised. In dairy 
products, it takes high rank, having in successful operation from twenty to 
thirty cheese factories and creameries. Agriculturally, it is one of the richest 
counties in the country, and in the United States census of 1880 was given 
the first place among all the counties in the various states in the matter of 
agricultural products. It has very little swamp or waste land. About one-third 
of the county was what in its early settlement was called oak openings, and 
the residue heavily timbered with oak, black walnut, whitewood. maple, beech, 
basswood, hickory, ash, elm. sycamore, etc. It is well watered by running streams, 
the principal being the River Raisin and its branches, the Raisin rising in one 
of the small lakes of the county and emptying into Lake Erie at Monroe. In 
the northeastern part of the county are numerous small lakes, some covering 
only a few acres, while others are several miles in circumference, and so beau- 
tiful are they, and so healthful their locality, that some of them have become 
favorite summer resorts, with hotels and cottages, one having already some forty 
cottages upon its banks, mainly owned by residents of Adrian. Detroit. Toledo, 
Tecumseh and the farmers of the county. The price of farming lands varies 

32 



250 Michigan and its Resources. 

from S30 to SlOO per acre, depending on proximity to or distance from the 
cities and villages and the character of the buildings and improvements. The 
county is traversed by three great lines of railroad, from east to west by the 
Li. S. & M. S. and the C. J. & M.. and from northeast to southwest by the 
Wabash Railway, in addition to which are the L. S. & M. S. from Adrian to 
Monroe and Detroit, the branch from Adrian to Jackson, the Dundee branch 
from Adrian to Trenton and Detroit* and the Fayette branch from Adrian to 
Fayette, Ohio. 

The well improved farms and farm houses to be seen on every hand plainly 
indicate that the farmers of this county are an exceptionally prosperous people. 
The excellence of the soil and its adaptability to mixed farming and fruit rais- 
ing, the healthfulness of the climate, its railroad facilities (no farm in the county 
being over six miles from a railroad station), the character, intelligence and high 
moi-al tone of its people, make this one of the most desirable counties for agri- 
culture or manufacture to be found in this or any other State. 

Its largest town, Adrian, the county seat, one of the most beautiful of the 
many beautiful inland cities of the State, offers peculiar advantages for manu- 
facturing enterprises, competing railroads, facilities for shipping in all du-ections, 
and as a place of residence superior, in point of health, beauty and comfort, to 
any city of its size in the country. Its educational advantages are unsurpassed, 
its high school ranking among the best in the country, while Adrian College, 
one of the best in the State, supplements the high school by affording oppor- 
tunities for obtaining a thorough collegiate education at very moderate cost. 
The State Industrial Home for Girls is located here. x\mong its manufacturing 
establishments (some of them in their infancy), already employing in the aggre- 
gate nearly 2,000 men, may be mentioned the L. S. & M. S. car shops, the Gilli- 
land Electric Co., Adrian Furniture Manufacturing Co., Straw and Felt Goods Man- 
ufacturing Co., three large canning factories, Page Woven Wire Fence Co., Adrian 
Brick and Tile Machine Co., Kells & Sons' Brick Machine Works, three 
lumber yards and planing mills, the Washington Milling Co., the Hand Milling 
Co., electric light and gas works, the Church Manufacturing Co., Palmers Manu- 
facturing Co., and large numbers of smaller establishments. 

The city of Hudson and the villages of Tecumseh, Blissfield, Clinton, Clayton, 
Morenci, Weston, Fairfield, Addison, Deerfield, Ousted, Ridgeway, Riga, Jaspar, 
Palmyra, Addison, Mason and Britton, are all delightful, and most of them pros- 
perous towns, affording convenient and excellent markets, shipping facilities, 
good schools, society and churches. 

LIVINGSTON COUNTY. 

Livingston county was organized in 1836. It has an area of 576 square miles 
and had a population in 1890 of 20,858. Howell, the county seat, had at the 
same time 2,387 inhabitants. 

It is strictly an agricultural county. Her products embrace all the grains, 
grasses and vegetables of the temperate zone. Her soil is mainly sand, gravel 
or clay loam, well adapted to the growth of wheat, corn, oats, rye and grass, 
being high, rolling and well drained. Nearly all fruits are grown successfully, 
as the county is exceptionally free from eai'ly or late frosts. The timber is 
mainly hard wood, all the varieties of oak, beech, maple, hickory, elm and ash. 
Very little timber is left in the county except what is kept for home use. The 
lands are well improved and average value of farm land is 830 to $50 per acre. 
Unimproved being mostly woodland is as valuable as improved. We have little 
manufacturing, except flour for home use. Livingston has no large rivers, the 
Huron being the largest, which is not navigable, but furnishes water power along 
its whole length. No mines or minerals or quarries are as yet discovered. Our 
chief towns are Howell, population 3,000; Brighton, 1,200; Fowlerville, 1,500, whose 
chief industry is retail trade and mechanics of various trades. No vessel inter- 
ests, though she has a multitude of small inland lakes, which afford good sport 
for local fishing. 

The county is crossed by three lines of railway, the D., L. & N., T. it A. A. 
and Grand Trunk, which give the farmers good markets with short hauls. The 
county is dotted with schools and churches. Farm wages range from S16 to 
$20 per month with board, and 825 to $30 without board. Skilled labor from 
$2 to $3 per day. Our lakes are stocked with all kinds of native fish, and our 
woodland with small game. 



Michigan by Counties. 251 



LUCE COUNTY 

•Organized by legislature in 1887. The territory comprising the county was 
taken largely from Chippewa county, with five townships from Mackinac. It 
has an area of 581,437 acres, and a population in 1890 of 2,455. The county is 
bounded on the north by Lake Superior, east by Chippewa county, south by Mack- 
inac county, and west by Schoolcraft and Alger counties. 

The farming lands are rich and productive and this county offers many induce- 
ments to the immigrant to settle here and procure free a home of eighty or 
one hundred and sixty acres of fine timbered and agricultural lands. The Tahquam- 
enon river, with its several branches, wind through this county for over one hundred 
miles, not only furnishing excellent water privileges but drainage as well. The 
valleys along this river abound in great quantities of yellew birch and bird's-eye 
maple. These valuable woods are used largely for veneering purposes in the man- 
ufacture of furniture. Large tracts of pine still remain standing in the northern 
part of the county. This timber is the most valuable of any now remaining in 
the State. There remains 39.041 acres of public lands subject to sale or entry. In 
addition to the public lands, there are many thousands of acres of railroad lands 
for sale cheap and on long time. The county is organized into four townships, 
and already has hundreds of prosperous farmers, with good buildings and well 
worked farms. The roads are excellent for a new country, have been made so by 
the many large lumbering firms operating here. The schools are the very best; 
each township is organized on the unit system with but one board to establish and 
control district schools at convenient intervals. 

Newberry, the county seat, is a thriving village beautifully laid out with broad 
avenues and streets, has a fine system of water works, electric lights and other 
modern improvements to be found in a live and hustling town. Located here 
is a large iron smelti ng furnace employing several hundred hands the year round. 
In connection with the furnace are a large number of charcoal burners, which 
makes a ready market for wood from the farmers. Large chemical works are 
operated here, the chief product of which is wood alcohol. These works also 
employ many men. 

Adjoining the village is the great celery farm operated by the Newberry Celery 
Co., which also employs many hands. This celery has gained a widespread reputa- 
tion for its rich, tender and brittle branches Large shipments are daily made 
as far west as Montana, south to Illinois, and east to Montreal, Toronto and 
Quebec. St. Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth are all prominent markets for Nevv- 
berry celery. The soil in this vicinity is especially adapted for growing this 
excellent culinary plant. H. L. Harris, the secretary of the company, recently 
forwarded a quantity of this celery growing soil to the State Agricultural College, 
and Bulletin No. 99, of this institution, gives the following analysis: 

Sand and silicates 24.56 

Alumina 2.21 

Oxide of iron 1 1.30 

Lime 4.18 

Magnesia .75 

Potash .42 

Soda -. .40 

Sulphuric acid .67 

Phosphoric acid -- .46 

Carbonic acid 1.10 

Organic matter, containing 1.75 nitrogen 63.75 

Water 7.31 

There are many fine churches, excellent schools, a good newspaper, the News, 
numerous secret and benevolent societies, and other organizations to make social 
life pleasant in this village. 



252 Michigan and its Resources. 



MACKINAC COUNTY. 

BY P. D. BISSELL, ST. IGNACE. 

Mackinac county was organized in 1818. It is bounded on the north by Chip- 
pewa and Luce, on the east by Chippewa and Lake Huron, on the south by 
Lakes Huron and Michigan, and on the west by Schoolcraft. It has an area 
of 9.58 square miles, and had a population in 1890 of 7,830. St. Ignace, a city 
of .3,000 inhabitants, located on the Straits of Mackinac at the southern extrem- 
ity of the county, is the county seat. It is at present the great distributing 
point for the eastern portion of the upper peninsula. One of the largest blast 
furnaces in the State, with a capacity of 60 tons of charcoal pig iron daily, and 
employing 100 men, is located here. 

Another of the city's industries is the large lumbering concern of the J. A. 
Jamieson Lumber Company, a corporation with 875,000 capital stock, manufact- 
urers of lumber, car sills, etc. St. Ignace has two finely appointed and commo- 
dious hotels of the first class, which are thronged with tourists each summer, 
and a number of hotels of less size and pretensions. The city schools are 
graded according to the Michigan system, occupy two roomy ward buildings, and 
the high school, the latter a very handsome brick structure. There are Catho 
lie, Congregational, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Baptist and Lutheran 
societies, the latter only lacking a church home. The city has a grand harbor, 
with 25 feet of water right up to her piers, and is already a large shipping 
point and destined to rapidly increase in commercial importance. The system 
of docks, large as it is, will soon be too small for the increasing traffic center- 
ing at this point. The First National bank of this city, a prosperous banking 
house, reports for the past year an average of $100,000 of savings deposits, an 
increase of $25,000 over the year previous. This total is made up of small 
deposits and represents the savings of the wage earners. The commercial 
deposits aggregate as much more. 

The city has the usual number of stores and business houses, many of them 
carrying very heavy stocks and jobbing to dealers in adjacent towns. Each 
year increases the tide of summer travel to St. Ignace, and to accommodate the 
tourists a project for the erection of a big summer hotel is well under way, 
and much of the capital stock is already subscribed. 

Mackinac island, situated in the Straits of Mackmac, six miles from St. Ignace, 
near the junction of Lakes Huron and Michigan, and now a national park, is 
widely known as one of the most delightful . summer resorts in the northwest. 
The historical associations attached to this beautiful island and its surround- 
ings are of great interest. This magnificent resort has abundant hotel accom- 
modations. No other port in Michigan has as many passenger steamers call- 
ing at its docks as has Mackinac in the tourist season, and very many of these 
steamers are great floating palaces. It is estimated that from 40.000 to 50.000 
tourists visit Mackinac each season. Very rpany wealthy families of Chicago, 
Detroit and other cities have leased holdings of the government and have erected 
summer homes thereon. The chief points of interest are Arch Rock, Sugar 
Loaf Rock, Lover's Leap, Robinson's Folly. British Landing, Old Fort Holmes and 
Battle Field, the venerable Fort Mackmac, still occupied by U. S. troops, Pontiac's 
Lookout, etc. Mackinac island is the Newport of the great northwest. 

The eastern portion of the county is an elevated plateau. Up the valleys of 
the Pine and Carp rivers there is considerable cedar swamp, all of which is 
considerably elevated above the level of the lake. Along the line of the Duluth, 
South Shore & Atlantic Railroad the land is generally level, with occasional 
cedar swamps, which are so high as to admit of excellent drainage. The large 
swamps of the Tahquamenon lie almost entirely north of this county, their 
southern border being nearly 2.50 feet above the lake level. The western por- 
tion of the county is more rolling, some of its hills rising 200 or .'500 feet above- 
Lake Michigan. There is, however, but little waste land, even the hilly portions 
being easily cultivated. Along the border of Lake Michigan there is a narrow 
strip of quite sandy land. The county is well watered by the Pine, Carp, Black,. 
Mille Coquin and Milakoka rivers, and by the branches of the Tahquamenon 
and Manistique. There are also many fine inland lakes, the most notable of 
which is the Manistique groups, the banks of which are high, but slope grad- 
ually to the water's edge. There are a number of undeveloped water powers in. 



Michigan by Counties. 253 

this county, the one at the outlet of North Manistique lake having a current 
of four miles an hour, and is sufficiently large to furnish power for any number 
of mills. 

The soil is generally clay, limestone, gravel and loam, with a subsoil of lime- 
stone. Hei-e and there will be found a rich sandy loam of a chocolate color 
over a clay subsoil. The Manistique lake region having as its northern boundary 
the Duluth. South Shore & Atlantic Railroad, and Lake Michigan on the south, 
has in many ])Iaces a rich vegetable mold on the surface, underneath which is 
found a layer of red clay, then white marl containing a large percentage of 
lime, and lastly a white clay resting on a limestone foundation. The timber is 
principally pine, cedar, white birch, poplar and tamarack, the last three varieties 
being found in large quantities along the streams. On the dryer lands are 
splendid tracts of birds-eye and curly maple, black and yellow birch, beech, 
basswood, etc. 

The agricultural lands of this county cannot be excelled in richness of soil or 
in producing qualities. Wheat, barley, oats, buckwheat, hay, potatoes, turnips, 
etc., all grow in great abundance and of the finest quality. The vegetables are 
especially productive and attain an enormous size. Peas could be raised for 
southern markets with great profit, as they are about three weeks later than 
southern peas. As soon as the beaver dams are destroyed which are now scat- 
tered over the so-called swamp lands, the drainage will be perfect and there 
will be left some of the best grass land in the country. Near St. Ignace 
tobacco is raised to a limited extent. On Mackinac island fine plums have been 
raised for years. On the main land any number of blue plums, which were 
doubtless planted by the early French settlers, are found growing in a wild 
state. Strawberries, cranberries, etc., grow to great perfection. Young orchards 
set out six and eight years ago now bear fruit in gratifying quantities. There 
are a dozen thrifty apple orchards in St. Ignace. Siberian crabs, pears, green 
gage and egg plums and cherry trees not only endure the winter well, but 
thrive and bear fruit seemingly as well as in lower latitudes. 

The cost of clearing averages $20 per acre on the heavier timbered lands, 
while on the " burnt lands " it will not exceed $5 or SIO. Good wood markets 
can be found along the line of the railroad, particularly at the furnaces in St. 
Jgnace and Newberry. The roads of the county are very good indeed. Snow- 
falls by December 1 to an average depth of two feet, the ground never freez- 
ing. The winters are steady, and the atmosphere is much drier than in southern 
Michigan. Plowing begins in April, and although the season is comparatively 
short, the growth of crops is much quicker than in lower latitudes, the lime 
in the soil giving it great vigor. 

Lumbering, the cutting of ties, posts, poles, etc., charcoal burning and agri- 
culture are the main industries, employing a large number of men at wages 
ranging from Sl.,50 to SI. 75 per day. The Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic 
Railroad traverses the county from southeast to northwest, and an extension 
from the vicinity of Newberry to the Sault connects St. Ignace with the Soo. 
The St. Paul. Minneapolis & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad crosses the county east 
and west, starting into life the thriving towns of Gilchrist, Naubinway, Gould 
City and Corinije. These roads have opened up a vast amount of hitherto 
undeveloped territory, which is soon to become the home of the farmer, the 
merchant and the manufacturer. 

MACOMB COUNTY. 

BY ROBERT T. ELDRIDGE, MT. CLEMENS. 

Macomb county was organized in 1818, and primarily included all the land now 
embraced in the counties of St. Clair. La^ieer. Macomb, Oakland, Livingston, the 
larger part of Shiawassee, Ingham. Genesee. Sanilac and small portions of 
Huron, Tuscola and Saginaw. It was the third county in the State to be organized. 
It has been repeatedly reduced until the present county has an area of 440 square 
miles, with a population, in 1890, of .31,81.3, It is bounded on the north by Lapeer 
and St. Clair counties, east by St. Clair county and Lake St. Clair, south by 
Wayne and west by Oakland. Mt. Clemens, its metropolis and county seat, is a 
flourishing city of about 5,000 population, in which are situated the famous mineral 
;springs, whose waters are renowned and attract thousands annually from all parts 



254 Michigan and its Eesoueces. 

of the country. The waters are especially effective in the treatment of rheumatism,, 
skin and blood diseases and nervous affections. Five large bath houses and many 
hotel and boarding houses stand as evidences of the wonderful success of the waters. 
The leading manufactories in the city are of lumber, sash, blinds, etc., agricultural 
implements, including threshers, staves and heading, and ship building. Quite an 
amount is invested in the vessel interests on the great lakes by the people of the 
city, as well as of New Baltimore. 

The northern and western portions of the county are quite rolling, with consider- 
able cobblestone, while the remainder of the county is level or only slightly undu- 
lating. The Clinton river, with its numerous branches and feeders, furnish excellent 
drainage to the larger part of the county, and good water power at Utica and other 
points. The low swampy lands of the southern portions have been drained largely 
and now furnish the most productive farms of the county, so that now the only 
waste lands are the marshes at the outlet of the streams along the shore of Lake 
St. Clair. The soil of the northwestern portion of the county is a gravelly lo;im. 
while that of the south and east portions is gravel and sand with clay and clay 
loam subsoil. The limber, once abounding, is now nearly all cleared off. 'I'he 
resources of the county are almost entirely agricultural, wheat, oats and hay being 
the chief products. Some tine cattle are being bred in the county, and the improve- 
ment in the grade of the stock in general has been marked. Apples, pears, plums, 
and small fruits are raised successfully in nearly all parts of the county. 

Improved lands range in price from §30 to $100 per acre, 'and the lands along the 
southern line command even higher prices, being purchased as prospective subur- 
ban residence property for Detroiters. The Grand Trunk, its Ridgway & Pontiac 
branch, and the Detroit & Bay City branch of the Michigan Central are the rail- 
roads of the county. There is projected a railroad up the lake shore from Detroit 
to Port Huron. The Clinton river is navigable for small vessels as far up as Mt, 
Clemens. 

The press is represented in the county by the Press and Monitor at Mt. Clemens,, 
the Hydrant and Observer at Romeo, the Review at Richmond, the Sentinel at 
Utica, the Graphic at Armada, and the Watchman at Warren. 

The schools of the county are very good, there being 10 graded schools in the- 
county and 113 school districts with houses and fair equipments. The high schools 
at Mt. Clemens, Utica and Romeo are on the list of schools whose graduates are 
admitted to the University without examination. 

■ The early settlements of the French along Lake St. Clair and the Clinton, and 
of the Moravians at Frederick, the struggles of the early English settlers, the 
enterprises at Bellvidere and Liverpool, of the Kalamazoo and Clinton oanal, 
and the like, furnish an inviting and rich field for the work of the lotal historian 
or of the story writer. 

MANISTEE COUNTY. 

Manistee county was organized in 1855. It is bounded on the north by Benzie,, 
on the east by Wexford, on the south by Mason and Lake, and on the west by 
Lake Michigan. It has an area of 349.214 acres and had a population, in 1890, of 
24.230. Manistee, a city of 12,812 inhabitants located on Lake Michigan, is the 
county seat. 

The surface of the county is greatly diversified, that portion lying south of the 
Manistee river being comparatively level, while the portion lying north of that river 
is quite rolling. The two northern tiers of towns are very hilly in some parts, 
although easy of cultivation. The county is well watered, both by streams, and by 
lakes and ponds. The Manistee, a large navigable stream, crosses the county from 
east to west. This river has three large tributaries on the south, and one on the 
north, viz: Bear creek which in turn has a number of small tributaries, and extends, 
diagonally across the country to the northeast. There is some water power but it 
is not available at present, owing to the fact that the streams are so jammed with 
logs. There are some sand plains in the southern part of the county, also swamps 
here and there which are easily reclaimed. The soil is generally a sandy or gravelly 
loam, mixed with more or less clay. Some tracts along the shore have a pure clay 
soil hundreds of feet in depth. The southern tier of towns are quite sandy, yet the 
soil is quite productive. Pine and oak timber predominate in the southern part- 
of the county, white beech, maple, elm. and ash of the finest quality abound 
in the northern portions. Nearly every crop known in Michigan grows success- 
fully in this county; late corn is the only exception. Wheat averages from 15> 



Michigan by Counties. 255 

to 18 bushels to the acre. Apples, pears, peaches, grapes, and plums do remark- 
ably well. Berries of all sorts are indigenous and grow abundantly on every 
hand. On the light soil of the southern tiers of townships strawberries, rasp- 
berries, blackberries, etc, grow to great perfection. 

On the heavily timbered lands in the north part of the county the cost of 
clearing would be considerable, bvit in every instance the wood and timber 
would pay for the clearing. There are good wood piers all along Lake Michigan, 
at Burnham, Pierpont, Arcadia, Bear Lake, Portage and Manistee. The Milwaukee 
market consumes a great deal of wood shipped from this county. There is 9,418 
acres of public lands subject to sale or entry. 

There are plenty of good unimproved lands near the markets which can be 
had at from $5 to S20 per acre. There are also large tracts of stump land 
which can be bought at from $1 to $10 per acre. The soil on these lands is 
light but produces good crops of vegetables, fruits, etc. Two State roads traverse 
the county from south to north, one keeping near the lake shore, the other 
extending from Manistee to Bear lake, and thence north across the county. 
The local highways are generally in a fair condition. 

The climate is equable, and free from the extremes of heat and cold. The 
mercury seldom goes below zero in winter or abovs 80° in summer. Considerable 
snow falls, and the ground seldom freezes. Plowing begins by the middle of 
April. 

The county is well supplied witH schools of a high grade. The public schools 
of Manistee are favorably known and well patronized by northwestern Michigan. 
The principal interests are lumbering, agriculture, the manufacture of salt, 
shingles, ties, posts and telegraph poles. There are about 40 lumber and shingle 
mills at Manistee. Labor is in good demand at remunerative prices. Skilled 
labor in particular is well paid. The Flint &, Pere Marquette railroad has a 
branch from Buttars Junction in Mason county to Manistee. The Chicago & 
West Michigan and the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroads will eventually have 
branches to that city. A local road extends from Pierpont to Bear Lake. 

The county is settling rapidly and offers every opportunity to settlers, whether 
farmers, mechanics or laborers. Lands are cheap, the soil is productive, the 
privileges of schools and society are unsurpassed, and a large immigration to 
this section may be looked for during the next few years. 

MANITOU COUNTY. 

Manitou county was organized in 1855. It comprises a number of islands lying 
in the northeastern part of Lake Michigan. Big Beaver, Garden and Hog islands 
form the northern, and the north and south Manitous the southern boundaries of 
the county, while the north and south Fox islands lie midway between these 
groups. The county has an area of 180 square miles, and had a population in 1890 
of 860. Big Beaver island is the largest of the group, and is divided into thi-ee 
townships, viz: Chandler, Peaine and Galilee. St. James at the northern extremity 
of this island is the county seat. The surface of the county is rolling, and is well 
watered. There are a few easily reclaimed swamps and small areas of sand plains. 
The soil is generally quite productive. The timber is principally beech, maple, birch 
and hemlock. Wheat, oats, rye and potatoes are the staple crops. The seasons are 
too short and cool for corn. Apples do well, and other fruits, when properly tested, 
will no doubt show encouraging results. Berries grow in a wild state and yield 
bountifully. It costs about §12 per acre to clear and fence land. Hardwood brings 
from S2 to $2.50 per cord, and softwood about half as much. There is 4.990 acres 
subject to sale or entry. Good unimproved lands can be obtained at from S2.50 to 
§.3 per acre. There are no State roads, but plenty of good local roads over the 
islands. 

Snow falls by Oct. 1, and attains an average depth of three feet, the ground 
seldom freezing. Plowing begins by the 20th of April in favorable seasons. The 
schools are few, but are in a good condition. The principal industries are agricult- 
ure, fishing and boat making. More fish are shipped from these islands than from 
any other point on the lake. There is but little demand for labor. During the 
season for navigation, commmunication is had with Petoskey, Harbor Springs and 
other shore towns by means of fishing boats and tugs. Large steamers also call at 
St. James weekly, connecting the islands with Mackinaw and Petoskey. 

The harbor at St. James is one of the best, if not the best on Lake Michigan, 



25f5 Michigan and its Kesources. 

with an entrance about 80 rods wide and a perfectly land-locked harbor inside, all 
formed by nature,^ it is the city of refuge for vessels caught in storms. 

A society of Mormons once located here, but after a short, uncomfortable exist- 
ence was driven out, and the chief elder. Strang, murdered. At one time a consid- 
erable amount of boat building was carried on and no better opening for a boat- 
yard for ship building is anywhere found. 

MARQUETTE COUNTY. 
BY GEO. A. NEWETT, OF ISHPEMING. 

Marquette county was organized in 1851. Its boundaries are Lake Superior and 
Baraga upon the north. Schoolcraft and Delta upon the east. Delta, Menominee 
and Dickinson upon the south, and Dickinson, Iron and Baraga upon the west. 
Marquette City, located upon the shore of Lake Superior, is the county seat. In 
the northern portion the county is mountainous, rugged hills being covered with 
timber native to the region, where there are numerous lakes abounding in food 
fish, and where a natural paradise can be had by those seeking rest from the sultry 
sun of places farther south and of less altitude. In the central portion of the 
county occur the mines which provide the chief support of this district. The mines 
of iron ore are numerous, the deposits wonderfully large and of rare purity. Since 
their opening the total tonnage sent out to the markets of the county have amounted 
to 37.761,828 long tons. It is pertinent to add that they show better in large bodies 
of ore at this time than at any previous one in their history. Besides the mines 
of Iron ore there are those of gold and silver, galena, and quarries of brownstone, 
marole and talc. The northern and central portions of the county are limbered 
with white pine, Norway pine, hemlock, cedar, spruce, tamarack, maple, and white 
yellow and black birch, and many mills are employed in reducing them to mercan- 
tile proportions. The railroads traversing the county are the Duluth, South Shore 
& x-Vtlantic, the Chicago & Northwestern, the Chicago. Milwaukee A- St. Paul, and 
the Huron Bay. Large tracts suitable for farming purposes are found in the lands 
in the central region of the county. Apples, cherries, currants, raspberries, huckle- 
berries, strawberries, etc., thrive to a remarkable degree. Hay is a profitable crop, 
oats and barley do well, while roots, such as turnips, beets, carrots, parsnips, etc., 
grow to perfection. 

Potatoes are a sure crop, and are of the finest quality and size. The grasses are 
W'Onderfully nutricious, and vegetables of all kinds native to the district are won- 
derfully developed. Ishpeming is the largest city in the county, containing a pop- 
ulation of 11,191; Marquette comes next with 8,987, and Negaunee third with 6,053. 
The schools of the county compare favorably with the best in the country, and no 
portion of the State is more liberal in providing facilities for the education of its 
children. 

There are rare advantages for the conducting of various factoiies for the manu- 
facture of wooden ware, and a tine field for furnaces and mills for the conversion 
of the iron ore to manufactured forms. Marquette counly has an area of 1.071.426 
acres, being the largest county in the State and tenth in point of wealth. There 
are 91,546 acres of public lands subject to sale or entry. 

BY R. A. PARKER, OF MARQUETTE. 

Marquette county consists of approximately 1,071,4"26 acres, of which 100,000 acres 
have been cut. There are about 10,000 acres under cultivation, and such land is 
worth about S25 per acre. Timber land has an average of $10 per acre. The woods 
found consist of pine, spruce, hemlock, cedar, tamarack, elm. ash. and hard and 
soft bird's-eye maple and curly maple. The soil is usually sandy sometimes clayey 
and loamy, the general country consists of low, rolling hills. The saw mill industry 
has $628,000 invested in plants. There is one blast furnace in operation using 
charcoal, having two stacks, one stack producing fifty and the other seventy-five 
tons pig iron daily. There are about 50.000 horse power in its streams. Of this 
amount only 600 is utilized, this being done by the city of Marquette for its electric 
light and to operate a flour mill. Mining is the principal industry of the county. 
During the past year the mines of this county shipped 2.674,2,33 tons of iron ore. 
and since the first shipments of ore were made has sent away 37,924,968 tons. 



Michigan by Counties. 



257 



The railroads of the county are the Trunk system of the Canadian Pacific, by its 
line of the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic (traversing the south shore of Lake 
Superior), the Chicago & Northwestern, and Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul. In 
addition the plans and estimates have been made for a road to operate between 
Ishpeming and Marquette, a distance of fifteen miles to caray ore. It will afford 
Marquette an additional outlet for its products and give access by two roads to 
the markets of the west. There is one stone quarry operating near the city of 
Marquette that has been shipping its celebrated '-rain drop'' and brown stone for 
thirty years. North and west of Ishpeming are hills of serpentine. It polishes 
beautifully and is an industry that will attract capital. 

The chief cities are Ishpeming. population 1890 census, 11.197; Marquette. 9,093; 
Negaunee, 6.078; total population in the three cities, 26,1368. In the county the 
census showed that there were 39,527 inhabitants, being a gain of over eight 
thousand in six years and over fourteen thousand in ten years. 

The fishing catch at the port of Marquette amounted to 177,000 in 1891. There 
is about $26,000 invested in the business. The catch consists mainly of whitefish 
and lake trout. 

The vessel interests or tonnage of the port showed in 1890, 1.540 arrivals of ves- 
sels; the tonnage amounted to 3,077,.566 tons, an average of 1,061 tons. The imports 
were 178,0.36 tons. 

The school statistics of the county are as follows: 



Marquette 

Ishpeming . 

Negaonee 

Michigamnie 

Republic. 

Champion 

Scattered in ten townships 

Totals 



No. of 
children. 



2,?68 

3,208 

1,926 

39S 

811 

872 

1,841 



11,924 



Value of 
property. 

$100,000 
81,000 
45,000 
.5,000 
16,000 
12,000 
25,125 



$284,125 



No. of 
teacher? , 



146 



The average wages of labor, both common and skilled, is high, the former being 
S1.60 per day. and miners receiving $2.20 per day; carpenters. S2.25; masons, $.3.50; 
stonecutters. $4. 

The game consists of rabbit, partridges, deer and bear. Wolves, otter, beaver, mink, 
muskrats and other fur-bearing animals are trapped. Speckled brook trout are 
plentiful in the streams, and Lake Superior affords fishing grounds for them second to 
no place in the United States. 



MASON COUNTY, 



Mason county was organized in 1855. It is bounded on the north by Manistee, 
on the east by Lake, on the south by Oceana, and on the west by Lake Mich- 
igan. It has an area of 50-i square miles, and had. in 1890, a population of 
16,385. Ludington, a city of 7,517 inhabitants, located on Lake Michigan, is the 
county seat. 

The surface of the county is rolling. It is well watered, three streams run- 
ning east and west through the county, viz: the Grand Sable, the Little Sable, 
and the Marquette. The southern portion of the county is drained by the Pent- 
water river, flowing into Lake Michigan in the northeast corner of Oceana 
county. There is considerable swamp land, nearly all of which is reclaimable 
and which will ultimately prove among the best lands in the county. The east- 
ern tier of towns is quite sandy, but there are but few sand plains, properly 
so called. The soil in one-half of the county is a sandy loam, in one-quarter 
sand, and in the remaining quarter clay. The subsoil varies from hard clay to sand 
thirty feet in depth. The timber is principally beech and maple, ash, basswood, 
hemlock, some pine and the other varieties usually found in northern Michigan. 
The main crops are wheat, oats, potatoes, and all kinds of vegetables. Some 
years wheat will average 20 to 25 bushels per acre. Fruit raising has been 

H8 



258 Michigan and it8 Kesources. 

thoroug:hly tested, and peaches, pears, plums and apples grow to great perfec- 
tion. The Chicago and Milwaukee markets consume all of the surplus fruit. 

The cost of clearing will average from 820 to 825 per acre. There a-e good 
wood markets at all of the railroad towns, hardwood bringing from 82.50 
to 83.50 per cord, and softw^ood from 81.25 to 81.50. there are 2,780 acres 
of public lands subject to sale or entry. Good unimproved lands can 
be had at from 86 to 825 per acre. These lands are all accessible to market 
and their nearness to Pentwater, Ludington and Manistee will cause a brisk 
demand for everything the settler may have to offer for sale. The '■ stump lands " 
are held at merely nominal prices. The soil is fair, and eventually they will 
develop into fine agricultural districts. There are two State roads running 
through the county, one running from Ludington due east, and the other from 
Manistee in a southerly direction. The local highways are improving each year. 
Snow falls early in December, having an average depth during the season of 
two feet, the ground seldom freezing. Spring work commences as soon as the 
snow leaves, usually by April 15. 

The schools of the county are in a good condition, and are multiplying 
rapidly. The principal industries are farming, lumbering, and the getting out 
of poles, ties, posts, and hemlock bark. Labor is in good demand, 820 to 830 
per month being the average prices paid common labor. The Flint & Pere 
Marquette, its Manistee branch, and the Chicago & West Michigan railroads 
afford excellent outlets for the products of the county. Ludington is a shipping 
point of considerable prominence, and during the season for navigation is regu- 
larly visited by the largest boats on the lakes. 

MECOSTA COUNTY. 
BY S. G. WEBSTER, BIG RAPIDS. 

Located in the middle division of the lower peninsula, was organized in 1859. 
It is bounded on the north by Osceola, east by Isabella, south by Montcalm, and 
on the west by Newaygo county. It has an area of 576 square miles and a pop- 
ulation in 1890 of 19,647. The surface of the county is slightly rolling and the 
soil rich and productive of all kinds of crops. The timber is largely beech and 
sugar maple, elm, ash. oak, and cherry, with much valuable cedar along the banks 
of streams and around its many beautiful inland lakes. 

Mecosta is already supplied with railroads, and others now proposed and surveyed 
will doubtless be built in the course of a few years. The Grand Rapids & Indiana 
runs north and south through the county, the Chicago & West Michigan, also the 
Detroit, Lansing & Northern traverse the county from the west and east with the 
terminus of each at Big Rapids, the county seat. The county is watered by the 
Muskegon, Chippewa and Little Muskegon rivers and their tributaries. Nearly 
every farm has its spring or spring brook. There are also from thirty to fifty 
lakes of clear, cold water, surrounded' as a rule by high banks. The lakes abound 
in fish, principally bass and pickerel, while the brooks swarm with speckled 
trout which thrive in these waters, and are kept stocked from the State fish hatchery 
located at Paris in this county. All the rivers and small creeks have as yet many 
undeveloped water power sites The county may well boast of its abundant supply 
of pure water and the health of its inhabitants. There is no government land 
in the market. Good unimproved lands, well timbered with beech, maple, etc., near a 
railroad, can be had at from 85 to 812.50 per acre, while much of the "stump lands'^ 
with a heavy clay subsoil, which make fine productive farms, can be purchased 
at from 81 to 85 per acre, thereby offering inducements to those with small means 
to secure cheap but valuable farms. Single crops of potatoes have been raised 
on a few acres of these lands and sold for sufficient to pay the purchase price 
of the entire farm. The main productions are corn, oats, wheat, potatoes and 
grass. Hay is a sure and profitable crop. Timothy and the finer grasses, partic- 
ularly red clover, which grows luxuriantly, being the favorite varieties. All find 
a ready and easy market at remunerative prices. Experience has demonstrated 
that all kinds of fruits can be raised in abundance, not only apples, but plums, 
pears, cherries, grapes, etc., have proved a great success, being very fine in appear- 
ance and quality, while the trees are vigorous and thrifty, growing rapidly they 
come into bearing early. Those who have been experimenting with peaches are 
convinced that this locality is in the great peach belt of Michigan, and the slope 



Michigan by Counties. 259 

of the hill sides are being set out largely to peaches, and soon the county 
will take rank as one of the first fruit growing counties in Michigan, the southern 
peninsula of which is destined to be the garden fruit belt of the world. 

Big Rapids, the county seat, as a manufacturing city, is growing in prosperity 
and popularity and has a water power second to none. The Muskegon river with a 
sixteen-foot fall and two dams within the city limits, furnishes power sufficient 
to drive the wheels of almost an unlimited number of factories, which with its 
railroad facilities and special inducements offered by the business men of the city 
for new enterprises, afford great opportunities to those seeking new locations. 

The city contains a fine modern court house erected at an expense of 840,000 
and a jail costing 815,000, two iron bridges costing 818,000 and 822.000 respectively. 

The educational advantages are the pride of the county and city. Big Rapids 
is noted for its schools. A central building, erected at a cost of 820,000. and three 
ward buildings at 85.000 to 88.000 each. The Ferris Industrial College, a new 
commodious structure costing 820.000, although of only a few years' existence, 
has already secured a national reputation, and with its attendance of several hun- 
dred students from the different states of the Union, has already earned its title 
of being one of the best liberal educational schools in the country. 

MENOMINEE COUNTY. ' 

Menominee county was organized in 1863. It contains an area of 667,153 acres, 
and in 1890 had a population of .33.639, an increase in ten years of 21.652. Menominee 
city in 1890 had a population of 10,6.30 and is the county seat. Located at the extreme 
southern point of the county, at the mouth of the Menominee river on Green bay. 
it occupies a place in front rank of lumber producing cities, in fact is claimed 
to be the first. With excellent shipping facilities, both by rail and water, the advan- 
tages of the locality for manufacturing are excellent. 

The surface of the county is rolling with some swamp which is reclaimable 
by drainage. It is nicely drained by the Menominee. Sturgeon, Cedar rivers, and 
numerous creeks and small streams. The soil is somewhat sandy with clay subsoil, 
quite productive and easily tilled. Heretofore the land has been valued in proportion 
to its timber, but the greatest value is not in the timber. It is true that the wealth in 
timber can soonest be reached, and is generally held by persons who care but little 
for the fate of the land after they have made their fortunes by stripping the 
timber off. However this cannot be prevented. This is not a case of killing the 
goose that laid the golden egg. for after the land is denuded of its productive grand 
forests it is yet good, and when cultivated intelligently with skilled hands, 
rich harvests will be gathered, and Menominee instead of being a city of transient 
interests will count its permanent manufacturing industries, its prosperous surround- 
ing farms and its permanent and reliable citizenship. 

Of its entire area 44,189 acres are in farms, 604,116 acres uncultivated and 18,848 
acres held by the State and general government and subject to entry or sale. Not 
one-tenth part of the land is farmed. This looks like an opening for persons wanting 
cheap farms and we know of no reason why the investment would not be good. 
With good land, good markets, healthy climate, cheap homes, with plenty of wood 
for fuel, what is the matter of Menominee county? 

MIDLAND COUNTY. 

Midland county was organized in 18.55. It is bounded on the north by Gladwin, 
on the east by Bay. on the south by Gratiot and Saginaw, and on the west by Isa- 
bella. It has an area of 504 square miles, and had in 1890 a population of 10,657. 
Midland, a city of 2.277 inhabitants, is the county seat. The surface of the county 
is slightly rolling, excepting the extreme southern portion, where it is quite level. 
It IS well watered by the Tittabawassee. Chippewa, Pine, Salt and Tobacco rivers, 
and the small streams'tributary to them. There is plenty of available water power 
throughout the county. There are no swamps of any size, and no sand plains. 
The soil of the southern portion of the county is mostly clay; that of the 
northern part is a clay loam, while the western and eastern portions have a sandy 
loam. A clay subsoil underlies the entire county. The timber is mostly beech, 
maple, ash, oak, birch, elm. pine and hemlock. The principal crops are wheat, 
oats, corn, barley, roots of all kinds, and especially hay. Every fruit that has been 
tried has grown successfully. Apples, plums and other small fruits have invariably 



"260 Michigan and its Resources. 

done well. There can be no doubt but that fruit will be one of the staples of Midland 
county. The cost of clearing will average from SIO to 812 per acre. There is a good 
demand for wood at the salt blocks and bromine works in Midland City. Hardwood, 
eighteen inches in length, brings $1.50 per cord; softwood averages 81.25. 

There is no government land in the market. One thousand and twenty-eight acres 
of land subject to sale or entry. 

Good unimproved lands are plentiful. They can be obtained within a few miles of 
the settlements at from 85 to 812 per acre. The "stump lands" of this county have a 
good soil, and wherever cultivated have produced good crops. They are held at from $4 
to 88 per acre. Improved farms range in price from 820 to 860 per acre, according to 
their location. There are two State roads leading from Midland City, one running in 
a southerly direction to St. Louis, in Gratiot county, and the other running west and 
north to Houghton Lake, in Roscommon county. 

Snow falls by December 1. to an average depth of one foot. Spring work commences 
in May. The winters are generally steadier in this latitude than in the southern part 
of the State. The schools of the county are numerous and excellent. At Midland 
City there is a 820,000 school building, and every effort is made to have the standard 
compare favorably with that of any city in the State. 

Agriculture, lumbering, the manufacture of salt and bromine, charcoal burning, and 
the cutting of ties, posts and telegraph poles, are the principal industries of the county. 
The is a good demand for common and skilled labor. The Flint & Pere Marquette 
Railroad crosses the county from southeast to northwest. There are several logging 
roads in the northern part of the county and a road between Midland and Bay City. 

MISSAUKEE COUNTY. 
BY A. G. SMITH, LAKE CITY. 

Missaukee county was organized in 1871. It is bounded on the north by Kalkaska, 
on the east by Roscommon, on the south by Osceola and Clare, and on the west 
by Wexford. It has an area of 576 square miles, and had a population in 1890 of 
5,048. Lake City, the county seat, is a wide-awake village and had 663 population 
in 1890. Beautifully located on the east shore of Musk-rat lake, the place is built 
with good substantial buildings, has four saw mills and one planing mill, two banks, 
two weekly newspapers, and is a thriving town in every sense. It is the present 
terminus of the Missaukee branch of the G. R. & I. R. R. 

Ten miles south of Lake City is located the thriving village of Mc Bain, lately 
incorporated. The principal industries of the place are several hardwood manu- 
factories. It is located on the T. A. A. & N. M. R. R. 

Five miles west of McBain, on the same railroad, is the village of Lucas, also 
fast coming into prominence on account of its hardwood manufactories. 

The surface of the county is gently rolling, and is well watered by the Clam and 
Muskegon rivers, and by small lakes and spring brooks of clear, cold water. There 
is good water power to be found, particularly on the Clam river. The soil varies 
from a sand and sandy loam to a clay loam, with a clay subsoil. The timber on 
the hardwood lands is principally sugar maple, beech, elm. basswood and hemlock. 
There are also belts of valuable pine scattered through various portions of the 
county. The successful crops are wheat, oats. hay. barley, potatoes, corn, and in 
fact all root crops. The early kinds of corn do well. Apples and plums are grown 
successfully. All varieties of berries also grow in great abundance. Peaches, how- 
ever, are not to be relied on. 

The cost of clearing hardwood land will average $12 to $15 per acre. The logs 
are in good demand at the local mills, and at the roll ways hlong the streams, and 
large quantities are shipped to Grand Rapids to be manufactured into furniture, 
and wood brings a fair price in the several villages in the county. 

There are 7,.555 acres of government and State land for sale or entry in this 
county, also some G. R. it I. R. R. land, which cm be bought at prices ranging from 
81 to 87 per acre. These invariably have a good soil and will develop into good 
agricultural districts. The stump lands, some of which are very desirable, are also 
quite numerous, and can be had at from 81 to 85 per acre. There are five State 
roads running through the county, viz.: one north and south through the center of 
the county, one east and west from Lake City to Cadillac, one from Falmouth to 
Cadillac, another east and west through the north part of the county, and still 
another north and south along the Muskegon river. The townships of this county 



Michigan by Counties. 261 

are well opened by section line roads. Snow falls by the last of November, the 
average depth of the season reaching 20 inches. The ground does not usually freeze,- 
save in places where the wind blows away the snow. Potatoes are frequently left 
in the ground all winter. Plowing begins by the last of April. 

The people of Missaukee county have always shown a lively interest in education, 
and the district schools, as well as the graded schools in the villages, are in a 
thriving condition. Usually the school buildings are of good quality, some of them 
fine brick structures. 

Lumbering has been the principal industry in the past, but agricultural interests- 
are now making rapid advancement, and already there are a large number of as 
finely improved farms as are found anywhere. Common labor is always in good 
demand, wages ranging from $20 to $.35 per month, and there are fine markets for 
everything that can be raised. 

It is expected that the G. R. & I. Railroad company will extend their line to 
Moorestown in the northeastern part of the county in the near future and connect 
with a projected line of road through Grayling to Alpena. 

The sand on the bank of Musk-rat lake at Lake City has been tested and found 
to be a fine quality of glass sand. Some fine samples of glass are are on exhibition 
here made from a shipment of sand sent away as a te§t. Ct is thought that further 
experiments will prove that the sand will make plate glass. It is expected that a 
glass factory will be built here in the near future. 

MONROE COUNTY. 

BY W. H. BOYD, MONROE. 

Monroe county was organized in 1817. and has fifteen townships, including the 
city of Monroe, which has four wards. The county is bounded on the north by Wash- 
tenaw and Wayne, on the east by Lake Erie, on the south by Ohio, and on the west by 
Lenawee county. It has an area of 504 square miles, and a population in 1890 
of .32,247. Monroe city has 5,246 inhabitants and is the county seat with a fine 
court house and jail, also fine churches and school buildings. The county house 
and farm are among the best in the State. The county is well watered the 
river Raisin running through the county from west to east, with numerous branches; 
also the Huron on the north, with several creeks running into Lake Erie; also 
artesian wells in many parts of the county. There are several villages of size: 
Dundee, Petersburg, Carleton, Milan and Ida, all growing places. The eastern 
portion is level, especially along the lake, where the soil is clay loam and very rich 
and productive. The western portion is higher and more sandy, especially the 
southwestern, and easy to work, and for some products equally valuable. 

The timber is composed of all kinds, except pine, hemlock and trees of that 
class. Oak of all kinds, with hickory, maple and ash, are the most abundant. 
Raisin river, with its branches, Macon, Saline and others, afford abundant water 
power, especially at Monroe, Dundee. Petersburg and other points on the line of 
the river. All kinds of grain are largely grown in all the towns and the eastern 
portion produces hay in abundance and is sold in the Monroe. Toledo and Detroit 
markets. Stock is raised in all parts of the county, and our markets are well 
supplied with the choicest beef, mutton and pork, large quantities of each both 
alive and slaughtered being shipped on the railroads east, the Monroe market 
for dressed hogs being one of the best in the State. There are extensive fish- 
eries near Monroe, where fish are caught in abundance and sold fresh and frozen, 
which supply the home markets and are shipped to the interior of the State. 
Fruits of all kinds are largely grown. The export of grapes and all small fruits 
is large and of very fine quality, and command the highest price in the mar- 
kets of Detroit, Toledo and Chicago, and are very profitable to the producers. 
Monroe contains three of the most extensive nurseries in the western States, 
and ships trees of all kinds to almost all the western states in large quantities, 
the soil being well adapted to that business. The highways of the county are 
uniformly good except in the eastern portion where the clay lands abound; they 
are bad in the rainy season. The winter seasons vary, though not more so 
than in other counties in the State and are not subject to high winds or cyclones. 
Monroe city has communication with Lake Erie by vessel and steamboat, and 
large quantities of lumber and telegraph poles are brought into the harbor to be 
sold and distributed over the State. The Western Union Telegraph company have 



262 Michigan and its Resources. 

the largest depot at Monroe for poles in the country, from which they supply 
their lines. There are four large paper mills, which with other manufactories, 
give employment to labor. Limestone abounds on the line of the river Raisin, 
and extensive quarries have been and are still being operated both for lime and 
building stone, which are shipped to Detroit and other places, besides supplies 
for home demand. There are no government lands in the county. Farm lands 
sell for prices according to their situation and improvements, the best from §iO 
to SlOO per acre, and others not so good from 820 to S;30. There is not now 
a more healthy county in the State, as there are no stagnant marshes or pools 
and the streams are rapid and clear water. Extensive county ditches have been 
built in all parts of the county so as to drain all the wet lands into the rivers 
and streams, and farmers are using tile extensively on their farms. Clay is abun- 
dant, and brick and tile are cheap. 

As for transportation, no county in the State is more favorably situated. The 
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, Michigan Central, Flint & Pere Marquette, 
Wabash, Toledo & Ann Arbor railroads traverse the county, with another road 
extension from Detroit to Toledo being now projected. These, with the lake, 
make transportation of all kinds very easy and cheap, the railroads only charg- 
ing two cents per mile and Jaoats, twenty-five cents to Toledo from Monroe. 

For manufacturing the facilities are not surpassed in any portion of the State. 
This is one of the oldest counties of the State and had much to do with its 
early history. 

MONTCALM COUNTY. 
BY EDWAED A. EUNDELL, EDMOEE, MICH. 

Montcalm county was organized in 1850. It is bounded on the. north by Isabella 
and Mecosta, on the east by Gratiot, on the south by Ionia, and on the west by Kent 
and Newaygo. It has an area of 720 square miles, and had a population in 1890 of 
32,637. Stanton, a town of 1,352 inhabitants, is the county seat. 

The surface of the country is generally rolling. It is watered by Flat river in the 
western part of the county, and by Pine river in the northeastern portion, also by a 
number of creeks and small lakes scattered throughout the entire county. There are 
water powers on every stream in the county. There are a number of swamps which 
are all reclaimable. The soil of the northern and western townships is of a sandy 
loam, very productive, while that of the eastern and southern townships is a tine 
loam, very productive. The subsoil is clay throughout. The principal varieties of 
timber are pine, oak, beech, maple and ash. Wheat, oats, corn, potatoes and grass 
all do well. Wheat has averaged 20 bushels to the acre for several years. All sorts 
of vegetables are remarkably successful. Fruit of all kinds is grown with favorable 
results; peaches, however, are not a sure crop. Apples are shipped in large quan- 
tities to the western market. 

Some very large flour mills are located in the county, principally at Greenville, 
Edmore and Howard City. 

The soil of Montcalm is peculiarly adapted for the production of potatoes, and the 
county has been justly noted for this particular product. During the year 1891, 
602,914 bushels were shipped out of the county, and in the year 1892 this amount 
was largely increased. In 1892 the price ranged from fifty to sixty cents per bushel. 
The acreage planted to potatoes in 1893 far exceeds that of any previous year. The 
railroad companies have built large potato store houses at the principal points, viz.: 
Greenville, Edmore, Stanton, Lakeview, Sheridan, Howard City, Six Lakes, and 
McBrides. These store rooms are built to guard against the most severe cold weather 
and will store several hundred thousand bushels of potatoes. 

The cost of clearing will average $15 per acre, with excellent wood markets in every 
direction, hardwood, stove length, bringing from S1.25 to S1.50 per cord, and soft, 
wood about 85 cents. No government lands remain unsold, and but little State 
land. Desirable unimproved lands can be had at an average price of 810 per acre, 
while the " stump lands " range from §1 to 85. These lands often prove to be good 
wheat lands. There is a State road from Greenville to Big Rapids, one running 
north from Ionia to Houghton lake, and two running east and west through the 
county. Snow falls by December 1, its average depth during the season being 
fifteen inches, the ground not freezing to any great depth. Plowing usually begins 
by April 20. 

The schools and churches are both numerous and excellent. Agriculture, lumber- 



Michigan by Counties. 263 

ing and the manufacture of coal, posts, ties, telegraph poles, furniture, refrigerators, 
barrels, hoops and agricultural implements are the principal industries. Labor is 
always in good demand at prices ranging from $20 to $25 per month with board. The 
Detroit, Lansing & Northern, its Big Rapids branch, and the Saginaw Valley & St. 
Louis, the Grand Rapids and the Toledo, Saginaw & Muskegon railroads cross the 
county, affording excellent market facilities to every township, north, south, east and 
west. No better inducements can be offered to the settler with small means than 
that offered by this county. Land is cheap, the soil good, society, churches and 
schools first class, and the development and permanent prosperity of the county 
assured. 

MONTMORENCY COUNTY. 

Montmorency county was organized in 1881. It is bounded on the north by 
Cheboygan and Presque Isle, on the east by Alpena, on the south by Oscoda, and 
on the west by Otsego. It has an area of 576 square miles, and had a population in 
1890 of 1,487. Hillman is the county seat. The eastern part of the county is very 
level, the central portion is rolling, and the western portion is i-olling and somewhat 
inclined to be hilly. It is watered by the Thunder bay river, which runs through 
the center of the county from west to east, and is intersected by small streams 
from the north and south. There are a number of valuable water powers. About 
one-fourth of the county is swamp land, all of which is reclaimable; another quarter 
of the county consists principally of sand plains with a good claj' subsoil in some 
places. The soil in the eastern part of the county is mainly a red clay ; that of the 
central portion varies from a light sand to a heavy red clay, while that of the west- 
ern portion is a clay and sandy loam. The two upper ranges of towns have a fair 
soil, of which at least two-thirds is suitable for agriculture ; this is also true of the 
southwestern townships. The region is timbered with beech and maple, with hem- 
lock interspersed and some scattering pine. One or two townships contain large 
tracts of •• burnt land," which have been nearly cleared by fire, and which have an 
excellent clay soil There are many improved farms in town 31, range 4, on which 
reapers are now in use. It is the most thickly settled township in the county, and 
formerly had the county seat. The southern portion of the county is chiefly composed 
of yellow sand plains. Spruce and Norway pine prevail on these plains, also white 
pine along the headwaters of the Thunder bay river. Witti proper attention any 
crop peculiar to the latitude can be successfully grown in most portions of this county. 
Vegetables, roots, hay, wheat and corn do well, except in unusually cold seasons. 
Fruit growing has been tested, to a limited extent, with fair results. The cost of 
clearing the timbered land averages $20 per acre. 

There are 37,759 acres of land subject to sale or entry. The unimproved State 
swamp lands are easily drained, and make valuable farms. The county also contains 
large tracts of "stump lands," with fair soil, which can be bought at prices ranging 
from $1 50 to $3 per acre. The Agricultural college and school lands are well 
adapted to farming purposes. A State road runs east and west through the county, 
connecting Hillman with the village of Atlanta. The local highways are as yet very- 
new and are in great need of improvement. 

Snow falls by the middle of November to an average depth of ten inches, the 
ground not freezing to any depth. Plowing begins by May 1, or as soon as the 
snow melts. 

The public schools are few, but every effort is made to have the standard as High 
as that of the adjoining counties, where schools are more plentiful. 

There are about sixty million feet of pine cut annually in this county. Large 
quantities of posts, ties and poles are gotten out, which employs all of the labor that 
is available, at wages ranging from $26 to $30 per month with board. The taxes 
average about $5 per 40 acres, and are chiefly local. 

MUSKEGON COUNTY. 

Muskegon county was an offspring from Ottawa, 1859. It is located on Lake 
Michigan, between Ottawa and Oceana counties. In 1890 it had a population of 
40.01.3, composed of a good class of people, largely from New York and Ohio. A 
great many Swedes and Hollanders, most of whom are honest, sober, industrious and 
reliable, settled here; also many Germans and good people of other nationalities. 



264 Michigan and its Resources. 

Some of the best and leading citizens are Americans by adoption, and love their 
adopted country. 

The county covers an area of .321.'40.3 acres of various kinds of land, a large portion 
of which is sandy, but when properly tilled produces great results. Sandy soil is 
not so good for cereal crops and hay as clay land, but for fruit and vegetables it is 
more reliable than clay. Potatoes produced on this soil, while not so large, are 
superior in quality. Rarely is a diseased potato found in sandy soil. The largest 
cabbage we have any knowledge of was raised near Muskegon city, weighing over 67 
pounds net. 

The sandy soil of West Michigan requires fertilizing, but to fertilize and properly 
cultivate is like putting money in a bank .(in fact it can be recovered sooner than 
from some banks). 

Potatoes, sweet corn, melons, strawberries, and all other kinds of berries, cabbage, 
celery, and flowers, all such things, grow to perfection. 

This county was formally a dense forest of pine, hemlock, birch, maple, ash, elm, 
etc. The pine and hemlock were cut, leaving large amounts of the other kinds. 
The beech and maple is held for fuel, and the supply is nearly inexhaustible. 

The prevailing winds are from the west, and come pure off Lake Michigan, making 
it a remarkably healthy locality. Hay fever patients who have suffered for twenty- 
tive years, have spent summers in Muskegon county, on the margin of the lake, 
without a symptom of the disease. At an early day there was some ague, but 
since the country was opened up and drained, as is the case generally over the State, 
it disappeared. 

The county is well watered by numerons streams and lakes, which are plentifully 
stocked with fish. There are some bear, deer and other game, while ducks and 
feathered game are plenty. 

Muskegon, the county seat, is located on Muskegon lake, an arm of Lake Michi- 
gan, five miles long and over one mile wide, covering about 5,000 acres, with a harbor 
capable of sheltering from storm all the vessels on the great lakes at one time. The 
population of the city is about 27,000. Until recently, it was said to be the greatest 
lumber producing city in the world. Within the last four or five years, this industry 
has dropped off to some extent, and the manufacturing is taking a more solid form. 
No city can be permanently prosperous upon a lumber producing basis only; mills 
are built, makeshifts of houses thrown together, the land skimmed of its wealth, then 
mills and men flit away leaving nothing but stump land, worthless shanties, and 
high equalization of value to pay taxes on. An exclusive saw mill industry is no 
benefit to any county. The aim of the Muskegon people has been to place manu- 
facturing on a solid basis, and success is crowning their efforts. Shipping accom- 
modations at Muskegon will attract manufacturing. While rates are exceedingly 
low. the time between Muskegon and Chicago and Milwaukee is, in a business point 
of view, exactly nothing. Shipments at the close of business from Muskegon reach 
Chicago the next morning before business begins, and so with travel. Business men 
can take a day in Chicago and be away from business at home only a day. leaving 
Muskegon in the evening and arriving at Chicago the next morning at about six 
o'clock, leaving Chicago at night and arriving home in early morning, all at a small 
cost. 

The city is abreast with the times in modern conveniences. Water is pumped 
from Lake Michigan, and the supply is not liable to be exhausted. Electric lights 
and cars, churches, schools, hotels, railroads, a new court house, one of the best in 
the State, about completed, all first class. Muskegon has many public spirited citi- 
zens, who do not stand on the order of their going, but go promptly; business is 
their watchword, fair dealing their motto, enterprise the spirit, success the aim. and 
to "get there"' the incentive. Knowing the transient character of the saw mill busi- 
ness, they aim to solidify manufacturing to permanent works with skilled labor and 
a permanent citizenship, with permanent homes and interests. If enterprise with 
opportunity will succeed (and it generally does) Muskegon will get to the king row. 

There are several thriving villages, among which are Whitehall. Montague, Ravenna, 
Fruitijort. Sullivan, etc. A five cents outlay and fifteen minutes time will carry 
citizens to Lake Michigan Park, where the pure air and water of Lake Michigan can 
be enjoyed to a full extent; but that is not all, 2.5 cents will pay the round trip to 
Hackley Assembly ground, " the gem of the Chautauquas.'' In short, there are 
resorts in all directions, very fine but cheap. Visitors generally report Muskegon a 
good place to summer, and after one visit almost invariably return the next season. 



Michigan by Counties. 265 



NEWAYGO COUNTY. 

BY THAD WATERS, FREEMONT, MICH. 

Newaygo county was organized in 1851. It is bounded on the north by Lake, 
on the east by Mecosta and Montcalm, on the south by Muskegon and Kent, 
and on the west by Muskegon and Oceana. The name is an Indian one and 
means "Here we rest." There are a number of thriving villages in the county, 
the principal of which are Newaygo, the county seat. Freemont, Hesperia, White 
Cloud and Grant. The village of Newaygo has. without exception the best water 
power in the lower peninsula. It is a manufacturing town. Freemont is situ- 
ated in a very fertile farming country, and is also extensively engaged in manufact- 
ures. Vast forests of pine timber a few years ago covered this county, but the 
pine is now harvested and the lands are being rapidly improved. There are 
1.779 acres of government and State land for sale or entry in this county. All 
pine stump lands underlaid with a clay subsoil are the best wheat and orchard 
lands in the State. Grant, Garfield, Sherman, Lincoln and Denver have large 
bodies of such land. The township of Goodwell is nearly all such land. They 
can be bought at from $3 to $5 per acre, and the stumps pulled and put into 
fences at from 75 cents to $1 per rod. When once cleared these lands are far 
superior to prairie lands for wheat, apples and peaches. Apples and peaches 
are destined to be the crop of this county in the near future. Thousands of 
peach trees have been set in the last year and ai-e beginning to yield a boun- 
tiful harvest. The economical way of setting fruit, apples every four rods and 
peaches one rod apart between has not been practiced much as yet. The peach is 
a short lived tree and set with apples in the manner indicated, leaves when old 
and worthless, an apple orchard just coming fully into fruiting. Those who rush 
by the State of Michigan for big red apples do not know what they are doing. 
Over 15,000 bushels were shipped from Freemont alone in the fall of 1892. Two 
railroads traverse the county north and south and one east and west. The 
county is well watered with innumerable spring brooks, all stocked with speckled 
trout, which flow into the Muskegon, White and Pere Marquette rivers. 
The water in these streams is as clear, cold and pure as heaven can make it, 
and no miasmatic taint sends the stranger who ijitches his tabernacle on their 
shady banks to the drug store for quinine to relieve his shakes. Thousands of 
acres of blackberries furnieh us with this luscious fruit, to be had only for the 
picking. Thousands of bushels are picked every year and yet probably not one- 
half are saved. No better schools can be found in Michigan than those found 
in Newaygo county, and the school system of Michigan is equal to any in the 
world. The patriotism, hospitality and push-aheadativeness of the people of this 
county are not excelled, and we say to all who wish to make a comfortable 
home and become active business citizens: " Newaygo "- here we rest! 



OAKLAND COUNTY. 

Oakland county was organized in 1820. It is bounded on the north by Genesee 
and Lapeer, on the east by Macomb, on the south by Washtenaw and Wayne, and 
on the west by Livingston and Genesee. It has an area of 900 square miles, and 
had a population in 1890 of 11,245. Pontiac, a town of 6,200 inhabitants, is the county 
seat. Near this town is located the Eastern Asylum for the Insane, a magnificent 
structure, which accommodates a large number of patients. At Orchard Lake, near 
Pontiac, is also a fine military school, which enjoys a large patronage. The surface 
of the county is generally rolling, though not hilly. The highest land of that section 
of country lying between Lake Michigan, Lake St. Clair, Saginaw Bay and Detroit 
river is found in this county, it being from 400 to 000 feet above the Detroit river. 
Four important rivers rise near the center of the county, flowing in entirely different 
directions, viz • the Shiawassee, the Huron, the Clinton, and the Rouge. The county 
is well watered also by numerous smaller streams and inland lakes, there being no 
less than 100 of these small lakes within the border of the county. There is some 
swampy land along the border of the lakes, nearly all of which is reclaim able. A 
number of available waters are found along the larger streams, many of which are 
in use. 

34 



266 Michigan and its Resources. 

The soil is a mixture of sand, clay and loam ; this combination prevailing in every 
township in the county. The subsoil is uniformly clay. The eastern portion of the 
county was originally timbered with beech, maple, basswood, oak, ash, elm, etc., while 
the northern portion was timbered chiefly with oak. But little timber now remains, 
and this is carefully husbanded for domestic use. 

Wheat is the staple, though large crops of corn, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, 
potatoes, and all garden vegetables are annually harvested. Apples, pears, peaches 
and grapes are profitably cultivated. The Canada Red, Baldwin and Greening apples, 
the Bartlett pear, the Crawford peaches (early and late varieties), and the Concord 
grapes have a large sale in Detroit, Toledo and Chicago markets. As stated above, 
timbered lands are scarce, hence, hardwood brings from $3 to S4 per cord, and soft 
wood about a dollar less. There are no government, State or railroad lands for sale in 
this county. Improved farms are the only available lands, at prices ranging from $50 
to $100 per acre. The highways of the county are unexceptionally good. The two 
great wagon roads, viz.: the Saginaw turnpike, and the Grand River turnpike (both 
leading to Detroit), are extensively ti-aveled. 

About seven months constitute an ordinary season for productive farm labor. 
Little snow falls prior to January 1. It generally averages from 6 to 12 inches in 
depth. The ground usually freezes to a moderate depth, depending entirely on the 
fall of snow. A gravelly open soil in an exposed situation will sometimes freeze to a 
depth of three feet. Spring work begins usually by April 1st. 

The schools are very numerous and sustain a fine reputation. Agriculture is the 
principal industry, and creates a constant demand for farm labor during the summer 
season, wages usually ranging from $15 to $24 per month with board. A large peat 
bed was discovered a few years since, not far from Highland, on the line of the Flint & 
Pere Marquette railroad, which yields a considerable amount of this peculiar fuel. 
The Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee, the Detroit Sz Bay City, the Flint & Pere 
Marquette and a branch of the Grand Trunk Railroad place every section of land 
throughout the county within easy reach of market facilities. 



OCEANA COUNTY. 
BY FEED J. RUSSELL, HART, MICH. 

Oceana county was organized in 1855. It is bounded on the north by Mason county, 
on the east by Newaygo, on the south by Muskegon and on the west by Lake Michigan. 

It has an area of 540 square miles, and had a population in 1890 of 15,698. The prin- 
cipal villages are Hart, Shelby and Pentwater. Hart the county seat has a population 
of 1,200, and is a thrifty, enterprising village, with excellent schools, churches, two 
banks and first class hotel accommodations. 

The extreme eastern portion of the county is comparatively level for several miles 
near the lake shore, the land is gently undulating, while the eastern portion is still 
more rolling, and some parts to a person accustomed to a flat country might be called 
hilly. 

The entire county is beautifully watered by springs and spring brooks the finest in 
the world, joining each other on their way to Lake Michigan, and forming the north 
and south branches of the Pentwater river in the northern portion, and the north and 
south branches of the White river in the southern portion, together with many island 
lakes and other small streams wending their way to the great lake single handed and 
alone. Good well water is abundant, and the streams abound in speckled trout, and 
the lakes are well stocked with fish. The soil is a sandy loam, with a large amount of 
lime gravel, with a black vegetable mold, with clay subsoil in the central and eastern 
portion, running to lighter soil in the western. 

The timber is principally sugar maple, elm, basswood and beech, unsurpassed for 
size and beauty. 

Every crop that is peculiar to Michigan is grown successfully in this county, and 
especially is this true of fruits and vegetables. The potatoes of Oceana county are the 
standard of excellence, and are surpassed by none. They have a national reputation in 
potato markets; that crop responds to the labor of the farmer so that he is often sur- 
prised at his success, 250 to 300 bushels per acre is not an uncommon yield, with an 
occasional crop of 400 to 500 bushels per acre. Wheat, corn, oats, timothy and clover 
are raised with success. 

Apples, pears and cherries and small fruits are grown to great perfection throughout 



Michigan by Counties. 267 

the entire county. Oceana county seems to be the home of the plum, the perfection in 
which it is grown in this county is not surpassed in any county, either in or out of 
Michigan, and it is not uncommon for the plum growers in this county to receive a net 
income from their plums of $200 to $350 per acre annually for a series of years. The 
peculiar location of this county extending westerly into Lake Michigan, so that that 
great body of open water tempers and warms the northwest, west and southwest winds 
thereby extracting the sting which the great northwest is so apt to furnish, rendering 
the winter weather mild and peculiarly titting for a fruit county, and especially is this 
necessary to raise the peach successfully. Peach trees have not heretofore been killed 
in this county by freezing, the rolling lands furnish an ideal location for this beautiful 
fruit. None of the diseases peculiar to the peach, and which have so devastated the older 
peach belts in this and other states have been discovered here. The crops of peaches in 
this county have been annual for a long series of years, and the trees that are in full 
bearing, and are being planted are numbered by hundreds of thousands until the hills 
and high table lands are being set to peaches, and the lower lands to plums. The 
growing of peaches is claimed to be still more pi'otitable than that of plums, and a 
ready market is furnished in Chicago, Milwaukee, and the great west and northwest 
for all fruits grown here. In the great markets these fruits are advertised as Oceana 
county fruits. Good fruit land can be furnished uncultivated for $10 to $20 per acre. 
With a good demand for the timber products, the value of fruit farms with bearing 
orchard depends entirely upon the quantity and age of trees. There is much unim- 
proved land in this county which can be purchased at reasonable prices, that is well 
adapted for either general farming or fruit growing, or both. Large quantities of 
maple ugar and syrup are made annually. 

The Chicago & West Michigan Railway extends from the south through the county, 
terminating at Hart and Pentwater. The Mason & Oceana Railroad from Ludington 
enters the northeast part of the county, terminating at Walkerville. The highways are 
in very good condition for a new county, and they are especially free from mud, com- 
pared to those in most timbered lands. 

The winters are milder than in other parts of the State, away from the lake shore, for 
the reasons given. There are 1,320 acres of government and State land subject to sale 
or entry in this county. 

There is usually sufficient snow for good sleighing, the ground rarely freezing, and 
active work on the farm commences about the first of April. 

The schools and churches are good and well attended. The principal industries are 
agriculture, fruit raising and lumbering of hardwood. There are manufactories for 
working hardwood at Hart, Pentwater and Shelby. Pentwater has a good harbor, and 
is a well known lake port and enjoys a large shipping trade. 

The health of the entire county is good and the residents are possessed of thrift and 
enterprise rarely found, being settled with people from New York and Ohio largely. 



OGEMAW COUNTY. 

Ogemaw county was organized in 1875. It is bounded on the north by Oscoda, on 
the east by Iosco, on the south by Gladwin and Arenac, and on the west by Ros- 
common. It has an area of 576 square miles, and in 1890 had a population of 5,583. 
West Branch, a town of 1,700 inhabitants, is the county seat. 

The surface of the county is undulating, and is well watered by the Rifle river and 
its many branches ; also by numerous springs and spring brooks. There are occasional 
swamps with cedar, tamarack, black ash. white maple, and other similar timber. 

These swamps are generally reclaimable, and it is believed will make good meadow 
lands. The southwestern part of the county contains a large tract of hardwood 
(beech and maple with hemlock and pine interspersed) growing in a good clay soil. 
North of this lies a ridge of white and Norway pine. The rest of the county to its 
eastern border is occupied by a series of ridges and valleys having a north and South 
tendency, and located in the following order, commencing in the west: 1st. the plains 
of yellow sand; 2d, ridges and valleys with much Norway and white pine, and consid- 
erable gravelly soil of fine quality; 3d, a hardwood ridge with a good clay soil; ith, in 
the extreme eastern part of the county commence what are known as the Tawas plains, 
which extend far into Iosco. These plains have a soil of yellow sand. The prevailing 
timber is jack or spruce pine, which makes a good fuel, and can be used for fencing. 
They have been burned over often, the fires burning down into the land itself, the 
soil apparently rendered combustible by the drippings of pitch from the pines. They 
are without a regular subsoil, but still retain moisture. Lakes are scattered through 



268 Michigan and its Eesources. 

the plains, and surface springs are also found. There are many homesteaders farming 
on these plains, who raise good crops of clover and rye, excellent vegetables, also 
corn and wheat in favorable seasons. Fertilizers are used to a considerable extent, 
and what this soil will do under continued cultivation is yet to be tested. There 
is considerable maple timber in the county, the soft maple growing in the sand, while 
in the clay lands the hard sugar maple flourishes and predominates over the beech. 
On the clay lands vegetables and rye are good crops, as are hay and clover. Corn and 
wheat also do well in favorable seasons. The capacity of the county for fruits has 
not yet been thoroughly tested, and the later frosts are now considered a serious 
obstacle to successful fruit raising. Berries, however, grow in abundance. 

The cost of clearing averages $20 per acre on the heavy timbered lands and from $1 
to $5 on the plains. There are, as yet, no wood markets of any consequence. There 
are 5,214 acres subject to sale or entry, also some railroad lands There are 
plenty of unimproved lands within a few miles of the county seat which can be 
had at prices ranging from S2.50 to $10 per acre. These lands have a soil of clay loam, 
and make the best of farms. When located in remote parts of the county the 
price varies from $3 to $6 per acre. There are large tracts of stump land which are 
rapidly coming into the market. The Manistee and Tawas State road runs east and 
west through the county. There is also a State road running north and south which 
passes about a mile east of the county seat, Snow falls early in November to an 
average depth of 20 inches. Spring work begins early in April. 

There are about thirty schools in the county, all of which have more than six 
months' school each year. Lumbering is as yet the principal industry. Ties, posts 
and telegraph poles are gotton out in large quantities. Labor is in good demand, 
wages ranging from $1 to $1.50 per day. In the lumber woods wages range from 
$20 to $30 per month with board. The Mackinac division of the Michigan Central 
and the Tawas & Bay County railroads are the only ones travel sing the county at 
present. The Michigan Central Railroad company has surveyed a line 25 miles in 
length, extending in a northeasterly direction from Beaver lake. This line will, 
eventually, reach Alpena. There is also a projected extension of the Toledo, Ann 
Arbor & Northern from North Bradley, on the Flint & Pere Marquette railroad, to 
Alpena, which will cross the county. 



ONTONAGON COUNTRY. 

Ontonagon county is situated in the northwestern part of the upper peninsula, 
and borders on Lake Superior. In area it is one of the largest counties in the 
State, containing over thirty-seven surveyed townships of land. The principal 
industries of the county are lumbering in the interior and fishing on the coast. 
Formerly copper mining was extensively carried on, but at the present prices of copper 
none of the mines can be worked at a profit except by tributers. The Minnesota 
and National copper mines are located at Rockland this county. These mines were 
formerly noted for their large masses or native copper found in their depths. One 
such mass taken from the former mine weighed over five hundred tons and is the 
largest single mass of copper ever discovered. It took nearly two years to cut this 
huge boulder of copper and hoist it to the surface. At the present price of copper 
mass mining is no longer profitable and the scene of great copper mining has 
been transferred to Houghton county, where the stamp veins being more uniform 
in their formation can be mined at a profit. 

A large portion of the county is covered with pine and hardwood forests, and 
lumbering may be said to be the chief industry. The soil along the line of ■ the 
Mineral Range mountains which traverse the county from northeast to southwest 
is very rich and productive. Many of the miners along the range have lately turned 
their attention to farming. Oats, barley, potatoes, and all kinds of garden veget- 
ables are grown in great abundance, the yield of oats to the acre often exceeding 
sixty bushels. Apples, plums, and small berries are also raised with profit. 

For many years, during the summer season, fishing for whitefish and Lake Super- 
ior trout has been extensively carried on at Ontonagon, the county seat. The 
latter place has an elegant brick court house and jail, good school houses, several 
stores, and a population of about 1.800. It is situated on Lake Superior at the 
mouth of the Ontonagon river. The Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian and Episco- 
pal are the leading churches, each one owning a church edifice of fair propor- 
tions, and having a fair sized congregation. The Milwaukee & Northern Railroad 



Michigan by Counties. 269 

connects Ontonagon by a direct line with Milwaukee and Chicago, and the 
mouth of the Ontonagon river furnishes a good harbor for all vessels navigating the 
great lakes 

The residents of Ontonagon, Rockland and Greenland, known as the old part of 
the county, are noted for their hospitality and genial old fashioned social ways. 

The greater portion of the county, especially in the southern part, is covered 
with vast forests of pine and hard maple. Lumbering is extensively carried on in 
the pineries. The Diamond Match Co. operates two large saw mills at Ontonagon, 
Several other smaller mills are located at Ewen, on the Duluth, South Shore & 
Atlantic Railroad in the southern part, which is the second place in population 
and enterprise in the county. It is situated in the heart of the pineries, and although 
but four years old is already known as a hustling town. It has water works, a tire 
department, good hotels and churches, and what is of more importance, a progressive 
people. A prosperous future is assured for Ewen as well as for the adjacent lum- 
bering towns of Trout Creek, Interior and Matchwood. 

Improved hardwood lands are worth SIO an acre. Pine lands are worth from $3 
to $7 per thousand feet stumpage, depending on the quality. The county will be 
made conspicuous at the World's Columbian Exposition for its huge exhibit load 
of pine logs, containing 36,055 feet of timber, in fifty-five logs, loaded and hauled 
by the Nester estate at Ewen, Ontonagon county, in February, 1893. 

Ontonagon county is a good place for settlers looking for cheap homes. Several 
thousand acres of good hardwood land adjacent to railroads are yet subject to 
homestead entry, but are fast being taken up by enterprising settlers who are rap- 
idly turning the wilderness into beautiful farms. Wood brings from S3 to $4 per 
cord in the towns and more than pays for the clearing of the land. 



OSCEOLA COUNTY. 
BY C. E. DEEMONT, EVART, MICH. 

Osceola county was organized in 1869; is located in the northwestern half of the 
lower peninsula; a line drawn north and south equi distant from Saginaw bay on the 
east and Lake Michigan on the west forms its eastern boundary line. 

It is seventy-six miles west from Saginaw, and sixty-nine miles north of Grand 
Rapids; is in the same latitude as Portland, Maine, and not so far north as Ogdensburg, 
New York. 

It has an area of 576 square miles, and a population, in 1890, of 14,630. 

The surface of the county is greatly diversified, the lai'ger portion of the county, 
however, being comparatively level. The northwestern portion is quite hilly. An 
extensive belt of pine barrens is found on the line of the Flint and Pere Marquette 
Railroad, east and west of Evart, with a generally level surface. Back of this the land 
is more desirable, beech and maple lands predominating, with occasional white cedar 
swamps, which make fine grass lands when reclaimed. The county is well watered by 
the Muskegon river and its tributaries; also by a large number of spring brooks. A 
sandy loam predominates, but all kinds of soil, varying from a light sand to a heavy 
clay, are found in nearly every township. The subsoil is generally clay. The principal 
varieties of timber are maple, rock-elm, black and white ash, beech, and basswood. 
There are, however, belts of pine, hemlock, and some birch in most townships. All 
nothern crops grow to perfection. That the soil of Osceola county is well adapted to 
growng wheat is made evident by the fact that wheat has been known to yield forty 
bushels to the acre, although the average yield is much less. Corn, buckwheat, potatoes, 
peas, etc., do well. Apples are a successful crop. Plums, pears, cherries, and berries, 
particularly whortleberries, yield abundantly. Peaches, however, are not to be 
depended on. 

Only 576 acres of public lands remain subject to sale or entry. Plenty of good unim- 
proved lands can be had at prices ranging from $4 to $10 per acre. The stump lands 
are also plentiful, and are to be had at from $3.50 to $10.00 per acre. The highways are 
constructed on section lines, and are as good as the average highways throughout the 
State. The seasons are possibly a fortnight later than in the counties further south. 
Snow falls to a considerable depth, the ground seldom freezing. 

The schools are plentiful and good, there being sixty-eight school districts in the 
county. Lumbering, the cutting of ties, posts, and poles, river driving, tan-bark peel- 
ing, the manufacture of shingles, and agriculture, are the principal industries. The 



270 Michigan and its Kesources. 

Flint & Pere Marquette, the Grand Rapids & Indiana, and its Luther branch, and 
Toledo, Ann Arbor and North Michigan, traversing the county on all sides, east, west, 
north and south, affording good and convenient facilities to both settlers and shippers. 

Among the principal towns and villages is Reed City, in the southwestern part of the 
county, at the junction of the Flint & Pere Marquette and Grand Rapids & Indiana 
railroads. It is an incorporated village, having a population of 1,776. Contains a 
number of manufacturing industries, a National bank, many tine stores, churches, and 
an opera house, and is surrounded by a fine farming community. 

Evart, the second village in size and importance, is also incorporated and is located 
in the southern central part of the county, fourteen miles east of Reed City, on the 
Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad, where this road crosses the Muskegon river. It is a 
very thriving village with a population of 1.270 in 1890. It contains two saw mills, 
planing mill, shook factory, stave and heading mill, flour mill, a good bank, churches, 
many tine stores, and the finest plant for supplying'the village with spring water in the 
State; mains are laid in all the principal streets, affording most excellent fire protec- 
tion. The water works plant was erected by the village, at a cost of S10,000, and is paid 
for. Evart is also the home of the Champion Tool and Handle Works, the largest 
manufacturers of all kinds of tools used in lumbering operations in the United States. 
Their goods are sold all over this country, and large bills are exported. It is also the 
rendezvous for trout fishers, there being no less than seven spring creeks in this vicin- 
ity, that are noted for the number and size of the trout; many thousands are taken 
from the waters of these streams every season, affording both sport and recreation to 
the many who annually make a pilgrimage to this lovely little town. Graduates from 
its public schools are eligible for admission to the State University and the State 
Normal School. 

Marion, located in Marion township, in the northeastern corner of the county, is a 
lively town of recent growth, on the Toledo, Ann Arbor & North Michigan Railroad. It 
has a splendid flour mill, run by water power, and a couple of saw mills, also does a 
good business in tan-bark, ties, cedar posts and shingles. It is a growing place, with a 
population of about six hunch-ed. 

Other towns of importance are LeRoy, population 450, Ashton, population 400, Tus- 
tin, population 300, on the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad, in the western part of the 
county, and Sears, on the Flint & Pere Marquette, in the southeastern part of the 
county. All have some local industry devoted to working up the products of the forest. 
Hersey, the county seat, is a quiet place of 328 population, on the F. & P. M. Railroad, 
in the southwestern part of the county. 

No county in the State has better water. Not a township in the county but is well 
watered with spring creeks, and in this connection the settlers attention is called to the 
important fact that these streams are alive with brook trout, affording to any who 
choose to seek them, the sport and profit of a good catch at any time during the season, 
for the trout streams in this State are rigidly protected by the game and fish laws. 
There are over thirty fine spring lakes in the county abounding in pike, perch, pickerel, 
bass of all kinds, and sun fish. Partridge are plenty, also red squirrels; quail are 
increasing, though the people of the county have been very chary of shooting any. 
wishing to get them well and prolifically located before hunting them, as they do the 
partridge. 

On the whole, Osceola county offers to intending purchasers and settlers splendid 
opportunities. There are, at this writing, 103,057 acres of land under cultivation; the 
assessed valuation of the county is 84,000,000; there is but 5,204 acres subject to sale 
or entry. The pine stump lands are being rapidly taken up and converted to grazing, 
for which purpose they have proven of considerable value. There is some poor land in 
the county, known as " the plains;" originally it had a large growth of Norway and 
pine, which was long since cut and marketed; these lands are of a flinty, sandy soil, 
requiring extraordinary rain fall to moisten, and as yet no fertilizer has been discovered 
that will make them productive, hence all efforts in this direction have proved futile. 
The northern half of the county possesses some of the most desirable sites and loca- 
tions for the herding and grazing of sheep that could be desired. The prices at which 
these lands are held is very reasonable, and as they have been burnt over to some 
extent the cost of putting them in shape for stock purposes is very small. Root crops 
of all kinds grow here in a most abundant and prolific manner. 

Osceola county is one of the banner counties of the northern half of the lower 
peninsula, and cordially invites settlers to its boundaries, having good lands, good 
markets, low taxes, and a healthy, conservative and growing population. 



Michigan by Counties. 271 



OSCODA COUNTY. 

Oscoda county was organized in 1881. It is bounded on the north by Montmorency, 
on the east by Alcona, on the south by Ogemaw, and on the west by Crawford. It has 
an area of 365,299 acres, and had a population in 1890 of 1,904. Mio is the county seat. 

About one-third of the county is hard timbered land, with an undulatory surface. 
Another third is covered over more or less thickly with pine timber, and the remain- 
ing third is a comparatively level plain covered with a growth of small timber, gener- 
ally of the spruce pine variety. The soil is of a heavy clay variety on the heavier tim- 
bered lands, and of a sandy and gravelly nature on the pine lands and plains. The 
subsoil varies from a clay to coarse gravel. The county is well watered by the Au 
Sable, a large and rapid stream, which traverses in its windings about forty^ miles of 
territory before it leaves the county. There are also numerous smaller streams, some 
of them in the northern part forming the head waters of the Thunder bay river. As 
indicated above the timber on the heavier lands is principally beech, maple, oak, ash 
and basswood. On the pine lands it is Norway and white pine and cedar, while on the 
plains it is small oak, spruce pine, etc. The range of crops is quite varied. Root crops 
do remarkably well. "Wheat is successful, even on the plain. Clover is also uniformly 
successful where the land has been worked for two or three years. The timbered por- 
tions are well adapted to grass. Potatoes are raised in large quantities for the many 
lumbering camps in this and adjoining counties. On the plains rye and buckwheat 
are sure to succeed as first crops, and field peas, sown broadcast, would probably do 
well preparatory to putting in winter wheat. After the first plowing a greater range 
of scope is admissable. Fruit growing is in its infancy in this county, yet there are 
many young orchards which are growing rapidly and do not winter kill. 

The lightly timbered lands can be cleared at from $1 to $4^ per acre, while the 
expense on the heavier timbered lands will average from $10 to $15. 

There is 61.397 acres of public lands for sale or entry in the county. 

Unimproved lands range in price from fifty cents to $5 per acre, according to the 
amount of timber and location. The " stump lands," which were originally timbered 
only in part with pine, prove to be excellent for farming purposes, and are held at the 
same price as unimproved lands. There is a State road along the Au Sable river, run- 
ning east and west. The local roads are easily built and are smooth and passable at all 
times of the year. The winters are a little longer, and fall and spring somewhat 
shorter than farther south. Snow falls early, from six inches to two feet in depth. 

Schools, churches, roads and general improvements are as good as could be expected 
and progressing. 



OTSEGO COUNTY. 

Otsego county was organized in 1875. It is bounded on the north by Charlevoix 
and Cheboygan, on the east by Montmorency, on the south by Crawford, and on 
the west by Antrim and Charlevoix. It has an area of 540 square miles, and had 
a population in 1890 of 4,270. Gaylord is the comity seat. It is pleasantly located 
near the center of the county, and has an elevation of 800 feet above Lake Huron. 
In fact this county is the highest in the lower peninsula and its climatic advantages 
are unexcelled. 

The surface is generally level, the north half more rolling, particularly a belt 
running northwest and southeast, just north of the center of the county. Thib 
belt has some nicely improved farms, yet is rather hilly. Several of the larger 
streams of the State have their headwaters in this county, viz., the Au Sable, the 
Manistee and the Cheboygan. Small streams and inland lakes are quite numerous. 
There are some cedar swamps in the northwestern towns which are all reclaimable. 
There are also some sand plains in the southeastern and northeastern portions of 
the county which it is thought, will make good farming lands. There are several 
available water powers on the larger streams. The soil is generally sand and grav- 
elly loam with a heavy subsoil in some places. The timber is maple, elm, basswood 
and hemlock, and about one-fourth of the county contains some pine. Winter and 
spring wheat, potatoes and root crops of all kinds are raised successfully. Owing 
to the frosts corn is not a certain crop. Peas, oats and rye are staple crops. Grass 
and clover also do well. The orchards are as yet young, but the prospects are very 
flattering for a successful fruit country. 

The plains cost $5 per acre to clear, while the timbered lands average $20. There 



272 Michigan and its Resoueces. 



are good markets for wood along the railroad. There are 11,723 acres of land sub- 
ject to sale or entry. Large tracts of beech and maple land, unimproved, can be 
had at prices ranging from $4 to SIO per acre. These lands are in good demand. 
The "stump lands" are also numerous and cheap. They have not been extensively 
cultivated, but as far as tested produce well. A State road running east and 
west between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, passes through the center of the 
county. 

OTTAWA COUNTY. 

Ottawa county was organized in 18.37. It is bounded on the north by Muskegon, on 
the east by Kent, on the south by Allegan and on the west by Lake Michigan. It has 
an area of 540 square miles, and had a population in 1890 of 35,358. There about 10,000 
Hollanders, located principally in the southern part of the county, where they have a 
prosperious colony. Grand Haven, a city of 5.023 inhabitants, situated at the mouth 
of Grand river, is the county seat. Holland City had a population in 1890 of 3,945. 

Much of the surface of the county is level; the balance is gently rolling, and all sus- 
ceptible to drainage. The Grand river flows through the county from east and west. 
It is navigable for small vessels as far up as Grand Rapids. The county is also watered 
by the Bass, Black and Pigeon rivers, Crockery, Deer, Sand and other creeks, and by 
Black, Pigeon and Spring lakes. There is a large stretch of swamp or wet prairie, 
which is all reclaimable, and has a rich soil, raising fine grass. The entire county by 
proper and inexpensive cultivation, could be made arable and adapted to grazing. 
There are no water powers, owing to the level character of the land. The soil is prin- 
cipally of a sandy nature with a subsoil of gravel. There is some loam with a clay 
subsoil in different sections throughout the county. 

The timber is oak, beech, maple and pine. Corn, wheat and all cereals, root crops 
and garden vegetables flourish in the warm quick soil, while the fruits cannot be 
excelled. This county lies in the celebrated fruit belt of western Michigan, and peaches, 
pears, apples, plums, cherries, currants and grapes grow in great abundance, and are 
shipped to the Chicago and Milwaukee markets, where there is a great demand for 
Michigan fruit. 

The cost of clearing averages from S12 to $15 per acre. Wood finds a ready sale 
throughout the county, hardwood bringing from §4 to S5 per cord, and softwood from 
$2 to $2.50. There is no government land in the market, with the exception of one 
80-acre tract. There are 440 acres of land subject to sale or entry. The stump lands 
of the county are receiving considerable attention, and no doubt will develop into good 
fruit and farming lands. They are held at prices within the reach of all. Improved 
farms range in price from $30 to $100 per acre. Good wagon roads bring all parts of 
the county into easy communication with the markets. The lake winds moderate both 
extremes of temperature. The average temperature for the month of January, during 
the last ten years, was 26° Fahr., while the average temperature for June was 62.7°. 

The schools of the county are very prosperous. At Holland is located Hope college, 
an institution extensively patronized' by local and non-resident Hollanders. Agricult- 
ure is the principal industry. One of the largest flouring mills in the State is located 
at Holland. Large machine shops and engine works are located at Ferrysburg. Labor 
is in fair demand, both on farms and among the lumbering and manufacturing indus- 
tries, wages ranging from $1 to $1.25 per day for common labor. Skilled labor com- 
mands proportionately higher wages. The Chicago & West Michigan, its Grand 
Rapids branch, and the Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee railroads traverse the 
county. The lake ports also afford excellent shipping facilities, and enjoy an exten- 
sive commerce. 

Grand Haven for many years was a very large lumber point. Several extensive saw 
mills were located there, all of which have removed, having exhausted the supply of 
logs. It is, however, claimed that other manufactories are locating and the city is 
becoming a manufacturing point of miportance. The charcoal furnace at Fruitport 
has produced a large amount of pig iron of a very superior quality. Ship building has 
for a long time been an important business at Grand Haven, and the sands in the bluffs 
may sometime be utilized in the manufacture of glass and stone. The excellent ship- 
ping facilities will be a great inducement to manufacturers. 



Michigan by Counties. 278 



PRESQUE ISLE COUNTY. 

BY W. A. FRENCH. 

The principal industriee of this county consists of lumbering pine and cedar, also 
farming. Fully 65,000,000 feet is annually lumbered fi-om this county. There yet 
repiains of uncut pine 250,000,000 feet. There are 150,000 cedar ties marketed 
annually and as much more each of pine posts, and there are yet remaining large 
quantities. The hemlock timber is practically untouced and runs up in the 
hundred millions. This applies to hardwood consisting of red oak, maple, hard birch, 
beech, elm and basswood, in which the county is well supplied. All products are 
shipped by water (Lake Huron), there being no railroads in this county. Mineral 
has been found in limited quantities. 

For agricultural purposes this county stands high for the following products and 
cannot be surpassed: Hay, two and one-half to three tons to the acre; peas, thirty 
to forty-five bushels to the acre; potatoes (no bugs) 300 to 400 bushels to the acre, 
in fact all roots are of the best growth and also tlavor, the soil is peculiarly adapted 
for the cultivation of roots. Wheat is another grain that this soil excels in. It 
grows very plump and full and in nearly every case is over weight. 

Considerable limestone is to be found in the county. The soil is a very nice clay 
loam. No navigable rivers in this county. The principal rivers for lumbering are 
the Ocqueoc river. Swan river and other small streams. Rogers City is the county 
seat and chief city of the county, population 1,000, industries milling. There is 
considerable fishing along the lake fronting this county, but it is carried on by 
Cheboygan and Alpena fishermen, as we have no railroads for shipping. The game 
consists of partridges in great quantities. Deer and bear (black) are found in 
limited quantities. Wages command S1.50 to $1.65, skilled $2.50 to $4. Improved 
land $25 per acre, unimproved $1.50 to $5 per acre. Schools are fairly distributed 
throughout the county. Farm labor $22 per month. Fruit cultivated is limited, 
but the soil and climate is perfect for apples and plums. No worms ever trouble 
them and they have an excellent flavor. Wild fruit, huckleberries and red rasp- 
berries are abundant, also blackberries. 



ROSCOMMON COUNTY. 

Roscommon county was organized in 1875. It is bounded on the north by 
Crawford, on the east by Ogemaw, on the south by Gladwin and Clair, on the 
west by Missaukee. It has an area of 576 square miles and had a population 
in 1890 of 2,033. Roscommon, an enterprising town of 511 inhabitants, located in 
in the northern part of the county, is the county seat. 

The surface of the county is for the most part level, interspersed with ridges. 
It is well watered by the south branch of the Au Sable and the headwaters 
of the Muskegon rivers, also by Houghton, Higgins and other lakes. There is 
considerable swamp land in the county, nearly all of which, when reclaimed, 
would make admirable meadow lands or cranberay marshes. The altitude of the 
county is such that there are streams flowing both east and west, and the fall 
is such as to make plenty of available water power on several of the larger 
streams. There is considerable land known as "sand plains.'' some of which is 
already taken up by homesteaders. The soil is a sandy loam on the high lands, 
with a fair percentage of clay. There is generally a sandy subsoil on the lower 
lands near the marshes and streams. 

The timber is principally white. Norway and spruce pine, with occasional belts 
of beech, maple, oak, cedar, tamarack, spruce and balsam. Potatoes have thus 
far been the most successful crop on the heavier timbered lands, although the 
earlier and hardier varieties of corn can be as successfully produced as in any 
part of the state. But little attention has been paid to the raising of the cereals, 
owing to the lack of milling facilities, but wherever tests have been made, the 
results have been uniformly good. Wheat, oats, rye buckwheat, and millet have 
yielded very satisfactory crops. It has been suggested that the experiment of 
planting amber cane be tried on the lighter soils, as this cane has been grown 
very successfully on light soils in other parts of the State. 

There are a number of young orchards with flattering prospects of future 

35 



274 Michigan and its Resources. 

success. The hardier varieties of apples should always be chosen in setting out 
trees. Berries grow in great abundance. 

The cost of clearing varies from 85 to S15, according to the kind of timber 
on the lands. There are good local markets for wood along the line of railroad, hard- 
wood bringing S1.50 per cord stove length, and softwood from 75 cents to 81. 
There are 77,857 acres of land subject to sale or entry. There are large tracts 
of "stump land," which have a good soil, and make very desirable farms, and 
can be had at prices ranging from 81 to 82.50 per acre. There is a State road 
running from Roscommon, via Houghton lake, to Midland, also a complete sys- 
tem of local roads which, owing to the sandy nature of the soil, are always in 
a good condition. Snow falls by Nov. 1, to an average depth of sixteen inches, 
the ground freezing but little. Plowing begins from the first to the middle of 
May. 

The schools are as yet few, but compare favorably with those of the surround- 
ing counties. Lumbering is, and will be for years, the principal industry. Wood, 
ties, posts and telegraph poles are gotten out in vast quantities, employing a 
large number of men, wages ranging from 820 to 830 per month with board. 
The Mackinac division of the Michigan Central Railroad passes through the 
county, affording excellent market facilities. There are also one or two logging 
roads in the southern part of the county. Higgins Lake is a delightful summer 
resort and is visited every season by a large number of hay fever and asthmatic 
patients, who generally find speedy relief. 

1 

SAGINAW COUNTY. 

BY SAMUEL G. HIGGINS, SAGINAW, E. S. 

The Saginaw Valley is one of the richest agricultural regions of the State, possessing 
an alluvial soil, very productive, adapted to the growth of wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley, 
peas, potatoes, hay, and. in short, all farm crops, fruits and vegetables. Saginaw county 
lies in the center of the Saginaw Valley and occupies 588 square miles, or 376..320 
acres. Of this area 275.508 acres are in farms. 174,209 acres being improved, and 102,- 
299 acres unimproved. The Cass, Flint. Shiawassee and Tittabawassee rivers unite 
near the center of the county, just above the city of Saginaw, the county seat and 
from the Saginaw river, which flows north eighteen miles to Saginaw bay, an arm of 
Lake Huron, the whole county is well watered, springs and flowing wells being 
abundant. Beech, maple, oak, ash and other timbers are plentiful. Great improve- 
ments have been made in drainage, as roads have been opened up and the lands 
cleared. A system of Macadamized roads is being planned, which will be of great 
benefit to the whole county. Excellent unimproved farming lands, well located and on 
good roads can be purchased for 85 to 815 per acre, on long time and reasonable inter 
est. Improved farms near the city are worth 850 to 8100 per acre, and even higher. 

In 1891 the yield of wheat in Saginaw county was 519,632 bushels, an average of 19.32 
bushels per acre. The corn ci-op was 1,133,569 bushels, 72 bushels per acre. The 
oat crop was 1,189,597 bushels, 41 bushels per acre. The land is especially well adapted 
to dairy farming, the cheese product for 1892 being over 8.000 pounds. 

The population of Saginaw county, according to the United States census of 1890, 
was 82,273, an increase of 40 per cent over the census of 1880. 

The Saginaw Valley has long been known as the most important lumber manufac- 
turing center in the country, and this fact has given rise to the erroneous impression 
that the land was unsuitable for farming purposes. But a very large portion of the 
territory is hardwood land, and many of the best farms in Saginaw county were origi- 
nally pine forests. Saginaw county is one of the largest salt producing districts in the 
United States, the brine being pumped from a depth of about 700 feet and evaporated 
by means of the exhaust steam from the engines of the various factories. Chen^ical 
works are in contemplation to manufacture from the brine many articles of great com- 
mercial value, soda ash for making glass and soap, caustic soda for making wood pulp 
paper, etc. 

The city of Saginaw is a large manufacturing city of 60,000 population, which gives 
the farmers an excellent market for their produce. Eleven lines of railroad radiate 
from Saginaw, reaching all parts of the country. In the early days Saginaw boi"e the 
reputation of having an unhealthful climate. The large areas of uncultivated and 
undrained land naturally produced malaria, but with the settlement and drainage of 
the lands these conditions have long since changed, and this is one of the most health- 



Michigan by Counties. '275 

ful sections in the United States. The summers are delightful, the nights being cool 
and refreshing even during the midsummer season. The autumns are the perfection of 
tine weather, continuing often until near Christmas before snowfall commences. Then 
follows a steady winter with plenty of snow, giving good sleighing until March. Farm- 
ing operations commence about the middle of April. Tornadoes and violent wind- 
storms, blizzards and hail storms, such as often sweep with such terrible force over 
certain sections of the country, are unknown in the Saginaw Valley. There are usu- 
ally no strong winds in winter, especially in the coldest weather. The great lakes, 
surrounding on every side, have a marked influence in moderating the climate, cooling 
the extreme heat of summer, and tempering the cold winds of winter. The air is fresh 
and invigorating, imparting health and energy to the people, in this respect being 
much superior to more southerly locations. 

The extensive coal beds recently discovered, underlying nearly the whole county, will 
greatly increase the growth of manufactures. This is the nearest coal to the rich Bes- 
semer iron ores of the upper peninsula of Michigan, and it is expected that large iron 
industries will soon be located in Saginaw. The manufactures of Saginaw include lum- 
ber, lath, shingles, salt, boxes, brick, cigars, brooms, dress braids, carriages, cash car- 
riers, crackers, confectionery, dust separators, files, flour, feed, harness, lumber tools, 
hoops, staves, heading, leather, lime, graphite, furniture, stone, marble, railway gates, 
woodenware, rules, fertilizers, roofing, saws, soap, potash, wire goods, awnings, baskets, 
shade rollers, seed cleaners, washboards, pulleys, boiler works, machine shops, rail- 
road shops, etc. There is no better location in the country for planing mills, sash, door 
and blind factories, and other industries using timber and lumber, as the supply of raw 
materials is very large. The lumber mills draw great quantities of logs from the 
Georgian bay region, across Lake Huron. Over 300,000.000 feet of pine saw logs are 
being rafted from that district to the Saginaw river this year. The hardwood in the 
territory north and west of Saginaw, suitable for the manufacture of furniture, carriages, 
etc., is practically as yet untouched. This is most excellent farming land, and the 
timber taken off in clearing will pay a large portion of the purchase price of the land. 
The combination of excellent farming land with good markets close at hand makes 
this country very desirable for the farmer. 



SANILAC COUNTY. 

Sanilac county was organized in 1848. It is bounded on the north by Huron, 
on the east by Lake Huron, on the south by St. Clair and Lapeer, and on the west 
by Tuscola and Lapeer. It has an area of 990 square miles, and had a population 
in 1890 of 32,589. Sanilac Center, formerly Sandusky, a thriving village of 400 
inhabitants, is the county seat. 

Along the extreme eastern and western boundaries, and also through the central 
portions of the county the surface is comparatively level; between these lines are 
ridges gradually breaking into short hills which form the water-shed of the county. 
The general appearance might be decided as undulatory. Through the center of 
the county extends the so-called "great swamp," which is rapidly being drained 
and cultivated, proving itself among the most fertile and productive land in the 
State. The county is watered by the Black and Cass rivers, Elk creek and numer- 
ous smaller streams, many of the latter flowing into Lake Huron. There are desir- 
able water powers on Black river and some of the creeks. The soil along the lake 
shore varies from sand to clay, but is nowhere unproductive. On the ridges it is 
generally clay, with occasional patches of lighter soil. The subsoil Is generally 
clay. The timber is mainly beech, maple, pine, hemlock, birch and oak, with ash 
and cedar on the low lands. Wheat, barley and oats are the staple crops. Corn 
and beans are also successfully cultivated. Potatoes and garden vegetables are 
also raised in abundance throughout the entire county. The reclaimed swamp lands 
are especially valuable as meadow lands, and the business of cutting and shipping 
hay has become extensive and profitable. In the older townships fruit raising is 
already an important industry. Young orchards present a thrifty appearance in the 
newer townships, and the future of this county as a fruit growing region is well 
assured. 

The cost of clearing land has been greatly reduced by the great fires of 1881. 
the present cost averaging from S6 to 815 per acrel Good wood markets are found 
along the line of the Port Huron and Northwestern Railroad. Hardwood brings 
from 82 to 83 per cord, and softwood from 75 cents to 81. There are 507 acres of 
land subject to sale or entry. Government lands are no longer in the market. 



276 Michigan and its Resources. 

Plenty of good unimproved agricultural lands are to be had at prices ranging 
from $5 to $15 per acre. They are near market, have a good soil, and are rap- 
idly increasing in value. There are also large tracts of "stump lands" which 
have enough timber on them for domestic use. and can be had at correspond- 
ingly low prices. Some of the best farms in the county have been made out 
of these lands. Improved farms range in price from 820 to $50 per acre, accord- 
ing tc the location. 

The Forestville and Tuscola. Sanilac and Tuscola, Lexington and Lapeer, lake 
shore north and south road, and Lexington and Minden State roads thoroughly 
open up the county. The first snow falls in December, the depth varying with 
the season. Oftentimes there are five or six weeks of good sleighing. Plowing 
usually begins in April. 

School districts are organized in every township. The school buildings are 
generally comfortabe, and the schools themselves exceptionally good. Agriculture 
is the principal industry, although considerable lumbering is still done. Large 
quantities of posts, ties and telegraph poles are gotten out every season, creating 
a steady demand for labor at wages ranging from S20 to S26 per month with 
board. The Port Huron & Northwestern Railroad extends through the county 
in two divisions; the Sand Beach division running from south to north into 
Huron county, at a distance of from six to twelve miles from the lake shore, 
and the Saginaw division running in a northwesterly direction from Port Huron, 
and passing through the southwest portion of the county, touching at Marlette. 
Lexington, on the Lake shore, twelve miles north of Port Huron, is the largest 
town in the county. It has a fine flouring mill, a woolen mill, foundry, two 
planing mills, and a large interior trade. It is visited regularly by several lines 
of steamers during the season for navigation. 



SCHOOLCRAFT. 

BY D. W. THOMPSON. 

The principal manufacturing industries is in pine, cedar and hardwood lumber, of 
which the output is approximately valued at $10,000,000 annually, and the value of the 
plants for the manufacture of the same $1,000,000. Iron output 36,000 tons annually, 
value of furnaces, etc., $150,000 to $300,000 including charcoal kilns; $250,000 is 
annually paid for wood for charcoal. Lime kilns ship 30,000 barrels of lime each 
season. Agricultural interests are comparatively small, although there is perhaps 5.000 
acres under cultivation, and enough potatoes and turnips raised for local consumption, 
and perhaps half the hay that is used is grown here. Oats and wheat but little 
grown, as there are no flouring mills in this county. The small fruits grow in abund- 
ance, and apples, pears and plums do well. The soil is a sandy loam with subsoil of 
clay in places. Country slightly rolling, drained by the Manistique, Taquamanon and 
Sturgeon rivers with their numerous branches. The country is dotted with many 
lakes, in which is found fine fishing, bass, perch, pickeral, etc., and the streams are full 
of trout and other fish. There is upward of 700,000 acres of unimproved lands, more 
than half of which is well timbered. Game, such as bear, wolves, deer, partridge 
and smaller game is plentiful, while on the lakes and streams are to be found many 
ducks. Streams are only navigable for logs at present. 

Improved lands are valued at about $30 per acre, and unimproved lands from fifty 
cents to $50. 'J here are no cities in the county, and but one incorporated village, Man- 
istique, the county seat, which has a population of 5,000, is at the mouth of the Manis- 
tique river, where nearly all the industries of the county are located, A. Booth 
has a fishery here employing about $300,000 capital, and the vessel interests of the 
county are about $500,000. There are two railroads besides several private logging 
railroads. Besides the county seat there are several hamlets with from 300 to a 1,OOS 
inhabitants each, viz.: Cooks, Thompson, South Manistique, Whitedale and Seney. We 
have good schools and eight or ten churches. Farm labor is $20 per month, common 
labor $1.50 to $2 per day and skilled labor $2.25 to $8. Cost of clearing timber lands 
$20 per acre. Kiln wood, four foot, $1.50 per cord, for household use $2.75, but little 
used; eighteen inch wood, $1.50. No stumping has been done. 



Michigan by Counties. 277 



SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 
BY A. L. BAIRD, CORUNNA, MICH. 

Shiawassee county was organized in 1837. It is bounded on the north by Saginaw, 
on the east by Genesee, on the south by Livingston and Ingham, and on the west by 
Clinton county. It has an area of 530 square miles and had a population in 1890 of 
.30,950. Corunna, a city of 1,500 inhabitants, is the county seat. 

The northern half of the county is comparatively level, while the southern half is 
more rolling. In the southern portion are also a number of sandy plains, commonly 
called oak openings, and numerous marshes, some of which are quite extensive and 
which have outlets in the Lookingglass and Shiawassee rivers. The northern part 
of the county has several thousand acres of tamarack swamp and open marsh, which 
are drained by the Shiawassee, Maple and Bad rivers. These swamps are nearly all 
reclaimable and are being ditched quite extensively. The principal water powers are 
on the Shiawassee river, at Byron, Knagg's Bridge, Shiawasseetown, Corunna and 
West Haven. The general character of the soil in the southern part of the county 
is sandy and gravelly, while in the northern portions it is of a clay and clay loam 
mixed with gravel. The subsoil is generally clay. The timber is oak, beech, maple, 
basswood and elm. The Detroit, Grand Haven & Milwaukee, the Jackson, Lansing & 
Saginaw, the Chicago & Grand Trunk, the Toledo, Ann Arbor & North Michigan, and 
the Cincinnati, Saginaw & Mackinaw railroads traverse the county, affording excellent 
market facilities. 

The county is well supplied with both hard and soft water, making it one of the 
most beautiful, productive and healthiest counties in the State. The staple crops 
are wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, beans, and vegetables of all descriptions. As a wheat 
producing county, it stands in the first rank. Apples are the principal fruit crop, 
although pears, plums, the smaller fruits and berries are raised in abundance, and are 
shipped in large quantities to the Detroit, Chicago and Saginaw markets. 

Improved farms range in price from $30 to $100 per acre, with a low percentage 
on the market. Unimproved lands are generally held for the timber and are worth 
from $20 to $100 per acre. 

A large coal mine is in active operation near Corunna, producing about 100 tons of 
coal daily. The coal tract is estimated to cover hundreds of acres. 

The schools of this county are all in first-class condition. The public schools of 
Corunna and Owosso attract a large non-resident attendance. Agriculture is the 
principal industry, though large manufacturing establishments have been erected in 
Owosso during the past few years, including furniture, mattress, carriage, shook, 
handle and Toledo, Ann Arbor & North Michigan car shops, and burial case factoi-ies. 
On account of its railroad facilities, Durand, Vernon, Corunna and Owosso all furnish 
excellent inducements to manufacturers. Owosso had a population of 6,564 in 1890. 



ST. CLAIR COUNTY. 

St. Clair county was organized in 1821. It is bounded on the north by Sanilac, 
on the east by Lake Huron and St. Clair river, on the south by Macomb and Lake 
St. Clair, and on the west by Lapeer and Macomb. It has an area of 720 square 
miles, and had a population in 1890 of 52,105. Port Huron, a city of 13,543 inhabi- 
tants, situated at the head of St. Clair river, is the county seat. 

The surface of tliis county is generally level, although there are portions of several 
townships which are quite rolling. There is considerable swamp land scattered 
over the county, nearly all of which is reclaimable. There is also considerable sandy 
land along the lake shore. The county is well watered by the Black, Belle, and 
Pine rivers, also by Smith and Mill creeks, and numerous smaller streams. Owing 
to the level character of the land there is but little water power to be found. The 
general character of the soil is a clay loam with a clay subsoil. The only excep- 
tions are found in the townships of Fort Gratiot, Clyde. Kimball, and Port Huron, 
where much of the soil is sandy. A clay subsoil underlies the sand, except in some 
portions of Fort Gratiot township, where the sand is very deep. The timber is 
maple, beech, oak, elm, and some scattering pine. Hay is the staple crop, although 
wheat and other serials are raise«.l successfully. The lighter soil is especially 
adapted to vegetables, which are raised in great quantities for the Port Huron 



278 Michigan and its Kesources. 

market. Apples, plums, cherries, and some varieties of grapes are grown in this 
county with success. Thousands of bushels of apples are shipped every year to 
Lake Superior ports. 

Clearing costs from S5 to $15 per acre, according to the density of the timber. 
There are no public land for sale or entry in the county. There are plenty of 
unimproved agricultural lands near the railroads, which can be had at prices rang- 
ing from $10 to S25 per acre. There is also considerable stump land, with the very 
best of soil, to be had at moderate prices. The Port Huron and Detroit, the Romeo 
and St. Clair, and the Port Huron and Lexington State roads run through the 
county in different directions. The local roads are constructed on section lines, 
and as a rule are kept in a fair condition. Snow falls in December and disappears by 
the last of February. Plowing begins in April, or as soon as the frost is out of the 
ground. 

The schools of the county have improved rapidly during the past few years. The 
public schools of Port Huron are especially deserving of mention, as they sustain a 
high reputation, not only at home, but all through the •• Thumb " peninsula, and 
even Canada. Agriculture, lumbering, charcoal burning, the manufacture of 
staves, etc., and tishing are the principal industries. One of the richest salt beds 
in the United States has recently been discovered at Marine City. These enter- 
prises create a steady demand for common labor at wages ranging from $15 to $22 
per month with board. The Chicago & Grand Trunk, the Detroit branch of the 
Grand Trunk, the Port Huron & Northwestern, its Lake Shore branch, its Almont 
division, and a branch of the Canada Southern Railroad traverses the county. The 
Grand Trunk Railroad has the finest tunnel in the world connecting its lines between 
east and west at Port Huron. (See description and illustrations.) Port Huron is 
very favorably situated as to its shipping advantages, and no doubt will become a 
great manufacturing center. It is already the seat of a flourishing commerce, and 
its docks and harbors are lined with vessels of every description from the opening 
to the close of navigation, x\t Marine City are located ship yards where some of 
the largest of lake vessels are constructed, while at the city of St. Clair are the 
celebrated Oakland mineral springs, which are visited annually by thousands of 
people, and which have the best of hotel and bathing facilities. St. Clair as a 
county is admirably adapted to grazing, and already attention has been directed to 
the subject of stock raising, which will eventually prove one of the most important 
enterprises of the county. 



ST. JOSEPH COUNTY. 

BY LEVI T. HULL, CONST ANTINE, MICH. 

St. Joseph county lies mainly in the valley of the St. Joseph river, a noble stream, 
which traverses the county from the northeast corner to its southwest corner. Nine 
of its sixteen townships border upon it. The other streams in the county, affording 
sufBcient volume of water for water power to drive manufacturing machinery, are. 
Pigeon river. Fawn river, Hog creek. Big and Little Swan creeks, Nottawa creek, Bear 
creek, Portage river. Little Portage, the Rocky and Mill creeks. All of these have 
been improved and the power utilized. The St. Joseph river is dammed at Three 
Rivers and Constantine, and affords a large amount of cheap power. These streams, 
through nearly all their length in the county, flow over gravelly beds, between high 
banks, and at their highest flood do little or no damage by covering adjacent lands. 
No purer or more sparkling water is to be found in the streams of any section of the 
United States. There are three large prairies in the county: Nottawa, Sturgis and 
White Pigeon. The greater proportion of the balance of the county is undulating, 
gravelly or sandy loam, broken in a few townships by hilly or rolling land of similar 
quality. The land is all productive. Originally there was a large amount of excel- 
lent timber in the county, consisting of burr, white, red and yellow oak, maple, beech, 
ash, elm, hickory, whitewood, butternut, cherry and blackwalnut, but it has been 
mostly removed. Wheat, corn, rye, oats, beans, hay, potatoes and essential oils are the 
chief productions, and large quantities are annually shipped. The farmers who have 
given attention to raising good horses, cattle, sheep and swine have usually found 
the industry profitable. The essential oil of peppermint has long been a staple product 
with many farmers. Of late years spearmint, wormwood and tansey oils have been 
raised, but not to such an extent as peppermint. Until within a few years, the 



Michigan by Counties. 279 

peppermint was all raised on the uplands, but it is now mostly raised on low lands 
and reclaimed marshes, the yield being more than double that formerly obtained 
from high lands. 

There are no unoccupied lands in the countj\ Farm lands are worth from S20 to 
$100 per acre, according to quality, location and improvements. The public roads 
are generally good. 

The covinty is traversed by two east and west railroads, and by three north and 
south railroads. Every township in the county, except two, has a railroad station in 
it, and those townships have railroad stations within a mile of their line. All parts 
of the county are convenient to market. Excellent schools are sustained throughout 
the county. Great interest is tak(,in in educational matters. In all the villages are 
elegant and commodious school buildings. 

There are a number of tine inland lakes, which have become places of pleasant 
summer resort for the people of the villages. 

The county borders on Indiana, is the third county east from Lake Michigan, has 
an area of 504 square miles, and in 1890 had a population of 25,356. Centreville is the 
county seat — population, 775. 

TUSCOLA COUNTY. 
BY^ JOHN H. BURGESS, VASSAR, MICH. 

Tuscola county was organized in the year 1850. It embraces the following 
townships: 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 north of range 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 east, and fractional 
township 15 north of range 8 east. The county is bounded on the north by 
Saginaw bay and a portion of Huron county, on the east by Sanilac county, 
on the south by Genesee and Lapeer counties, on the west by Saginaw and Bay 
counties. The land in townships in range 7, and towns 13, 14 and fractional 15 north 
of range 8 east are quite level, though having sufficient decent towards the Saginaw 
bay to give fine drainage to a large part of it, in fact to a large proportion of the 
county. 

Its principal stream is the Cass river, which runs through the county from 
the northwest to the southwest dividing the county into nearly equal parts, thus 
affording good drainage and available water power along its entire course. 

The soil is rich and in great variety, with clay loam surface and a stronger 
clay subsoil, and here and there drifts or patches of sandy loam or sand and 
gravel. The eastern portion of the county is more rolling with more gravel and 
less clay. Its timber consists of beech, hard and soft maple, white and black 
ash, elm, oak. basswood. hickory, hemlock and cedar. 

There are five State roads in the county and these, with the local highways, 
are kept in good condition. The Detroit & Bay City division of the Michigan 
Central Railroad, with its Caro and East Saginaw branches, the Flint & Pere 
Marquette and its Watertown extension, the East Saginaw, Tuscola & Huron, 
the Pontiac, Oxford & Northern railroads traverse the county. 

Lands can be had at prices ranging from $5 to §10 for "stump" lands. Good 
unimproved agricultural lands range in prices from SIO to S20 per acre. 

A good supply of pure water is found in all parts of the county. In many 
localities tiowing wells are obtained by drilling. The county is generally healthy. 

Tuscola county can boast of soils that produce in abundance all the staple 
grains, and root crops, such as are suitable to this latitude. Fruits, such as 
apples, pears, plums, cherries, and in some localities in the county, peaches do 
well. Small fruits yield in abundance and find a ready sale in the markets of 
the Saginaw valley, Detroit and Port Huron. 

There are a number of flourishing villages in the county, among which is Caro, 
the county seat. It is located near the center of the county. Its push and 
enterprise are proverbial. It boasts of electric lights and water works. It is 
also the terminus of the Caro branch of the Michigan Central Railroad. Vassar 
is the metropolitan village of the county. Its location makes it, so to speak, 
the gateway of traffic and travel to and from the county. At this point the 
Michigan Central crosses the Flint & Pere Marquette Railroad, forming a junction 
for traffic to Detroit, Bay City. Saginaw, Port Huron, also the Caro branch of 
the Michigan Central Railroad. Vassar justly prides itself on the fact of having 
pure drinking water from flowing artesian wells, as supplied by its water works. 
It has modern electric lights, several manufactories, and is the central market 



280 Michigan and its Resources. 

of the county. Mayville is a growing village of the county, situated in a splen- 
did agricultural district, it keeps pace with the movement "forward.'' Millington, 
Cass City, Unionville, Pair Grove, and a number of other towns and villages, 
are all steadily pushing to the front. 

With splendid transportation facilities, good highways, fine agricultural lands, 
with a soil that yields bountifully in the grains and root crops, as well as 
fruits, with good markets, accessible at all seasons of the year, backed up with 
a good climate, partially free from " cyclones " and heavy paralyzing storms, pure 
water, thriving village and farming regions, first class schools, and thorough- 
going enterprise among its inhabitants, Tuscola county offers to the seekers 
after homes, to the manufacturers in search of openings, inducements not to be 
overlooked. In 1890 the population was .32,508. 



WAYNE COUNTY. 

BY A. A. BOUTELL. 

Wayne county was organized in 1796, nine years before the territory of Michigan 
was established, and but a few weeks after tlie surrender of the garrison at Detroit 
by the British. It was named after Gen. Anthony Wayne, at that time the most 
popular man in the northwest, owing to his great victory over the savages. 

This county was at first large, comprising a considerable part of Ohio, Indiana 
and Illinois, as well as the whole of the State of Michigan. At present it occupies 
a very important position near the southeast corner of the state and contains about 
666 square miles. 

The land formerly somewhat low and swampy, has been nearly all reclaimed, so 
that some of the best farming land in the state is now in this county, the market 
gardens In and about Detroit being wonderfully productive. The large and increas- 
ing demand for fruit and vegetables at Detroit makes farming very profitable, and 
dairymen thrive with the good pasturage afforded, and the ready sale of milk and 
butter. 

But the most profitable thing for farmers has been the gi-eat increase in the 
value of their land, especially within a radius of seven or eight miles of the city of 
Detroit. 

While the city of Detroit comprises only twenty-nine square miles within its cor- 
porate limits, yet its suburbs extend over many additional square miles of territory. 

From Grosse Pointe six miles above the city limits on the north, to Wyandotte 
eight miles below the city on the south, out Woodward avenve from the center of 
the city north to the county line, and west ten miles to Dearborn, the land is 
either already platted or held and sold as acerage for future platting into lots. 

The farmers through all this extent of territory have been greatly benefited by 
the rise in values and many of them are enabled to retire with a competence for 
their old age from the sale of small farms. 

This suburban territory will continue to extend and widen as electric roads and 
rapid transit make it possible to reach points ten or even twenty miles from the 
city hall in a few minutes, and the very rapid increase in the population of the 
city makes homes in the suburbs in great demand. 

Wayne county is bounded on the east by Lake St. Clair and the Detroit river. 
This river flows majestically through a wide and deep channel, its water, pure 
and limpid, floats on its ample bosom more vessels and a greater tonnage 
than any other river in the world. The facilities for transportation of products 
and passengers during the season of navigation are unexcelled and the low 
freight rates and cheap fares on vessels plying up and down this beautiful river 
at all hours of the day and night, are appreciated and enjoyed by many. 

The railroad facilities are also good. Detroit, the entrepot, as well as metrop- 
olis of the state and county, is an important station on three of the most 
prominent trans-continental lines, the Michigan Central, Grand Trunk and Canadian 
Pacific, while the Wabash and Lake Shore it Michigan Southern tap the great 
west and southwest, and the Detroit, Lansing A: Northern, the Detroit, Grand 
Haven & Milwaukee, the Flint ct Pere Marquette, and the Detroit & Bay City 
make direct connection with the various portions of the State. 

The climate of Wayne county is healthy and salubrious, and its water supply 
pure and inexhaustible. The supply for Detroit is obtained from Detroit river, 



Michigan by Counties. . 281 

fed by the great lakes above, and is acknowledged to be the best obtained by 
any large city in the world, while good water is supplied by wells through the 
farming districts. 

The city has a well developed sewage system, and is thoroughly drained. The farm- 
ing lands are also well drained, with broad, deep ditches, emptying into the Detroit 
river on the east, into Connor's creek in the northern portion. River Rouge in the cen- 
tral and Huron river in the southern. Farming lands outside the radius affected by 
the proximity of Detroit, can be purchased for from 840 to SlOO per acre, and, on 
account of the nearness of excellent markets and the continued increase of values as 
suburban lines of electric cars penetrate farther and farther into the interior of the 
county, affords opportunity for solid investments. While the soil of Wayne county is 
particularly adapted to the raising of hay and grazing, yet all kinds of cereals are 
grown with profit and advantage. It is computed that 10,208 horses are kept in the 
city of Detroit and the large amount of manure produced is carted out upon the lands 
in the vicinity, which, with the great number of dairy farms, adds richness to the soil 
and increases its great productiveness. Farmers in Wayne county are not unlike those 
in other of the older settled counties, always ready to move on, and land can always be 
bought to advantage with almost absolute security of profit. Wayne county enjoys 
unequaled facilities for manufacturing. Its geographical position is unexcelled. Sit- 
uated midway on the chain of great inland lakes, and with a frontage on the westerly 
side of the entire length of Detroit river or strait, its manufactured products can be 
carried cheaply to all parts of this immense territory. The raw material also, iron and 
copper ore from Michigan's great mines in the upper peninsula, lumber from the vast 
forests of Michigan and Ontario, are freighted here by immense boats at a very low 
price, and coal is brought up from Ohio and Pennsylvania as return cargoes, at a nom- 
inal rate. The great railroad systems furnish rapid and economical transportation for 
manufactured goods to all parts of the United States and Canada. The manufactur- 
ing interests of Detroit alone are very large and constantly growing. We have here 
the largest seed house in the world, the largest stove foundries in the world, the 
greatest freight and passenger car factories in the world, the largest manufacturing 
chemists in the world, while its tobacco factories, electrical supplies, etc., etc. compete 
with the world in extent of product and excellence. 

The secretary of the Detroit Real Estate Board, from a personal canvass, which is 
reliable, states: "The seven hundred manufacturing institutions canvassed employ 
in the aggregate 32.750 males and 8,000 female operatives, or a total of 40,750. To this 
army of employes is paid each month §1,541,700, or the enormous sum of $18,500,000 
annually. The product in 1891 amounted to §86,500,000 and the invested capital to 
$52,500,000." 

Outside of Detroit manufacturing is also extensively carried on in this county. This 
is particularly true of Delray, the River Rouge district, and Wyandotte on the south. 
Added two very favorable locations on both rail and water routes, cheap taxation, 
cheap water and fuel, there are many inducements offered by owners of vacant lands. 
The thriving villages of Plymouth, Northville, Wayne, Dearborn, Norris and Romulus, 
in the interior of the county, are competing for manufacturing plants and many are 
already established, producing finished work of great excellence. Any account of 
Wayne county would be incomplete without some reference to the beautiful islands in 
the Detroit river, which are comprised within its limits. The largest of these are Grosse 
Isle in the south and Belle Isle in the north. 

Grosse Isle is beautifully situated on the American side of the main channel of the 
Detroit river, and is about seven and one-half miles in extreme length, with an average 
breadth of one and one-half miles, and contains about ten square miles or G.400 acres. 
The river below the island is some four miles wide, opening out into Lake Erie six 
miles away. The cooling breezes of lake and river, together with its arable soil and 
the vernal shade of the native trees, make this an ideal spot for summer homes. Many 
of the substantial men of Detroit spend their summers here. 

Belle Isle, just above Detroit and extending northward to Lake St. Clair, is a little 
over two miles long and contains G73.98 acres. The entire island, with the exception 
of about six acres in the northeast corner, which belongs to the United States and is 
set apart for the light house which guards the entrance to the main channel of the 
Detroit river, is owned by the city of Detroit, making one of the most beautiful parks 
in the world. The island is fiat and but little above the surface of the river. Most of 
it is shaded by native trees, and the plan of ornamentation adopted by the park board, 
with the advice and assistance of one of our most eminent landscape engineers, has 
been to utilize these trees to the utmost extent, quite large portions of the island 
being left in its natural state, with carriage roads, canals and foot paths cut 

36 



282 



Michigan and its Resoueces. 



through. The low lying grounds and marshes have been reclaimed by cutting out 
inland lakes connected by canals to the river, above, below and on either side. Splen- 
did roads have been built, and suitable buildings, while acres of flowers are kept 
blooming every year. The island is connected with the main land by an iron bridge 
about tive-eights of a mile long, and numerous palatial boats make frequent trips from 
various points of the city during the warm weather As many as 50,000 people have 
visited this island park in a single day. 

DETEOIT. 




The above meagre sketch of Wayne county has only mentioned the city of Detroit 
incidentally, but any compilation of Michigan and Its Resources should have some par- 
ticular account of its metropolis. Those who may contemplate a change from homes 
in foreign climes, or from the more thickly populated states in the east, will do well to 
investigate the inducements olfered by Michigan for their future home. And if they 
enter this great State in furtherance of their quest, they will quite naturally do 
so through the portal at Detroit. If first impressions of a new country are worth 
anything, then their first sight of Detroit from its noble river, their rides through broad 
streets to palatial hotels, the appearance of its mammoth stores whose windows show 
samples of the wealth of goods within, must make this impression favorable. A few 
days spent in a careful survey of the city will increase these impressions. First take a 
ride from the center of the city over the splendidly equipped electric roads which 
traverse broad avenues fringed with the elegant homes of its solid citizens, embowered 



Michigan by Counties. 283' 

in umbrageous trees and with well kept lawns, to the termini in either direction. Then 
walk or ride through street after street of comfortable homes of merchants, artisans 
and mechanics. Even laborers here own their own little homes, which, as a rule, are 
trimly kept, ^hile fruit, vines, and flowers abound Detroit has been well called 
the "city of homes," and very few cities in this or any other land, according to their 
population, have so many houses occupied by their owners. You can take a seat in a 
comfortable electric car, and for ten cents ride in a northerly direction, near the river 
banks, to the picturesquely beautiful village of Grosse Pointe Farms, upon the placid 
shores of Lake St. Clair. Here magnificent summer cottages on wide extended lawns, 
shelter, during the summer months, Detroit's most substantial citizens. 

Boat houses dot the lake front and palatial steam yachts make daily trips to the 
city. For the same sum, ten cents, you can be whirled by electricity along the river 
banks to Wyandotte, twenty miles to the south. Or take the Woodward avenue line 
and ride out to Highland Park and Senator Palmer's famous Log Cabin farm, to the 
north. 

For ten cents you can make the round trip from the city to Belle Isle Park above, 
to Des-chree shos-ka below, or ride for half a day on boats fitted with every conven- 
ience for safety and comfort. During the warm days of summer tired men and 
women and countless children are revived, benefited and made strong and healthy 
by these cheap water excursions. For fifty cents you can take the round trip by 
boat up the river, across Lake St. Clair to the Flats, the American Venice, and 
there at hotel or private club, partake of an elegant fish supper for fifty cents 
more, and ride home again by moonlight. For one dollar this trip can be extended 
to Port Huron at the foot of Lake Huron, sixty miles away. 

Boats also ply daily down the river to way ports, to Toledo, Sandusky and the 
famous islands of Put-in-Bay. Every night large and beautiful boats leave for Cleve- 
land, and four times each week up the river to Mackinaw Island and the summer 
resorts to the north. 

In the city itself, if inclined to read, you can visit our large and commodious 
public library building with its 108,720 volumes of excellently selected works, treat- 
ing on all subjects. 

Detroit is also gaining a reputation as a convention city. And those who visit 
the city on these occasions never fail to carry away pleasant recollections of their 
cordial welcome and handsome treatment, and of the countless attractions of the 
beautiful city of the straits. Those who live in the malarial districts of the south, 
after once tasting the delights of a summer at Detroit, always come again and bring 
their friends. 

Detroit is an old city, having been first visited by the French in 1610. two years 
after the founding of Quebec. The first fort was built here in 1701. It has always 
had the reputation of being a solid but conservative city, and has never been 
affected by booms or very seriously by depressions. While progress has been slow 
yet is has always been sure, with no steps backward. Its favorable location has 
made for it a large and substantial city in spite of its conservatism, and now its 
progress is marked by the enterprise of its younger men. New buildings and new 
enterprises are rapidly succeeding each other, and a few years more will transform 
its business streets with new and modern buildings. Among the new buildings 
now under way are the new postofBce, occupying an entire square upon Fort street and 
Lafayette avenue, the Masonic Temple, the Home Savings building, the Union 
Trust building, and the Chamber of Commerce building. The two latter are to be 
modern in every respect, twelve or thirteen stories high, made of structural steel, 
fire proof and with every known convenience for their hundreds of tenents. 

The city government is well administered, with a most energetic mayor at its 
head, and commercial matters are looked after by several important exchanges. 
The Board of Trade was organized in 1856. It is a strong organization, capable of 
handling the immense cereal products of the State, which here find their natural 
market. 

The Merchants and Manufacturers" Exchange was founded in 1878 and has 
done efficient work ever since. Its information and collection departments are of 
very great assistance to its members. The Detroit Real Estate Board was more 
recently organized. Its members are mostly young men and a great impetus 
has been given to real estate matters since it was organized. Equitable arrange- 
ments are made among themselves for dividing commissions on listed property 
and anything savoring of sharp practices are severely frowned upon. The Detroit 
Builders' Exchange was also recently formed and has done good work in regu- 
lating building operations. The Detroit Clearing House has supervision of the 
clearances of the seventeen State and eight national banks in Detroit, whose 



284 Michigan and its Eesources. 

combiDed capital amounts to 88,300,000 with a surplus and undivided profits of 
$2,927,414, and total deposits of 858,387,225. 

The Detroit Chamber of Commerce was organized in 1891 and has a member- 
ship of nearly seven hundred of the city's best and most progressive business 
and profeFsional men. It includes in its membership the larger number of those 
in the other exchanges and its new building, a cut of which is given elsewhere, 
is expected to become the home of the other exchanges, so that all can unite 
in developing the interests of the city. 

Its object, as set forth in its bylaws, reads: "It shall have for its object 
the advancement of the public interests of the city of Detroit, the development 
of all legitimate enterprises tending to increase its prosperity, the uniting of 
the energies and influence of its citizens upon all subjects affecting the welfare 
of the city, the improvement of facilities for transportation, the diffusion of 
information concerning the manufactures, trade and business of the city and the 
State, the cultivation of friendly relations and the promotion of equitable prin- 
ciples among the businescs men of Detroit and vicinity." 

To sum up, Detroit and Wayne county afford many opportunities for the 
investment of money and enterprise. Farmers, merchants mechanics, manufact- 
urers and capitalists can here find comfortable homes and unexcelled chances 
for the profitable investment of money. Any inquiries directed to the secretary 
of The Detroit Chamber of Commerce will have prompt attention. 



WEXFORD COUNTY. 

Wexford county was organized in the year 1869. The population at present is 
estimated at 13,000. The surface of the county is diversified, varying from gently 
rolling to hilly ranges entending east and west through the center of the county. 
This range is the divide between the Manistee river on the north and the basin of 
the Clam lakes and Clam river on the south. It is decidedly an agricultural county, 
the soil is very productive when properly cultivated. The prevailing soil is a sandy 
loam, although a rich clay soil is found in many places. All of the cereal products 
are grown successfully. Potatoes are one of the principal crops and attain to a 
great degree of perfection, command good prices, and are largely shipped to the 
southern markets and to the east and west. Six hundred thousand bushels of pota- 
toes were shipped from this county last season by one Cadillac dealer. W^exford 
county is also gaining a reputation as a fruit growing county. Apples, pears and 
plums are grown to perfection. Peaches are grown in favorable localities, while 
l)erries and small fruits are grown in abundance. Wexford county was awarded 
first premium on fruit exhibits at the West Michigan Fair in 1892. 

The hardwood timber is a great source of wealth to the county and afl'ords rare 
opportunity for the investment of capital in its manufacture. The quality of its 
hardwood is excelled nowhere and its quantity is immense. There is a good system 
of schools, and good school houses sufficient for all requirements. There is also a 
good system of roads. 

Not the least attractive are the numerous streams of pure spring water which 
abound in speckled trout. The climate is one of the most healthful in the world. 
The spring season and plowing commence from the 10th to the 15th of April. 

Two lines of railroad extend through the county, the Grand Rapids & Indiana, 
running north and south, T., A. A. & N. M. Railroad running northwest by 
southeast, afford excellent shipping facilities for the large amount of timber, 
cedar posts, and telegraph poles produced in the county, and also for shipping 
farm products which are produced largely in excess of home demand. Thriving 
towns are building on these lines. 

The city of Cadillac, located on the east shore of Little Clam lake, at the cross- 
ing of the T., A. A. & N. M. and G. R. & I. railroads, was founded in 1870 and 
has now a population of 6,000. Little Clam lake is a beautiful sheet of pure water 
three miles long by one wide, is well stocked with pike, pickerel and perch, and 
affords excellent fishing. Its waters are traversed by pleasure steamers and it is 
destined to become a famous pleasure resort. For a new city in a new country 
Cadillac is excelled nowhere and the energy and enterprise of the people is 
unbounded. Manton, the second town in the county, on the line of the G. R. & I. 
railroad, is a village of about 800 inhabitants. It is a flourishing town and a lively 
shipping point for the products of the county. Boon, Harriette and Sherman are 



Michigan by Counties. 285 

thriving villages on the line of the T. A. A. & N. M. R. R. Great inducements 
are offered to settlers. There is an increasing demand for hardwood timber of which 
Wexford county has an abundant supply of the best quality, the proceeds of which 
will defray all expenses of clearing the wild lands ready for the plow. No county 
offers greater inducements to the energetic man with small means to make a home. 
On January 1, 1893. there were 17,700 acres of government and State land subject 
to sale or entry in the county, but the amount is constantly being reduced. 



THE PENINSULAR STATE. 



SUMMAKY. 



Population 1890, 2,093,889. Increase over 1880, twenty-eight per cent. 

Tax value in 1892 §1,130,000.000 

Square miles, as per United States survey _ 58,915 

Acres in farms as per Farm Statistics of 1893 12,720,619 

Acres improved in farms 8,328,189 

Acres unimproved in farm 4,392,430 

Total acres not in farms 24,254,741 

MICHIGAN STANDS 

First in Lumber Products. — $68,141,189 by 1890 census; one-fifth total domestic pro- 
duct; increase over 1880, 815,691.261. 

First in Iron Ore. — §15,800,524 by 1890 census; more than one-third total product, 
and one-half its value. Product for 1892. 7.267,874 tons; increase over 1890 census of 
1,411,609 tons. 

Second in Copper. — In 1891, 54,685 tons. The United States produces one half the 
world's copper, and Michigan one-third that of the United States. 

First in Charcoal /ron.— 83,982,278, by 1890 census, of 811,985,103 total domestic 
product. 

First in Sa».— Nearly one-half in amount and value; $2,.302,579 in 1890; 3,927,671 
barrels in 1890; 3,812,054 barrels in 1892. 

First in Gypsum. — Almost half the total domestic product — 131,767 tons in 1890; 
New York next with 52,208 tons. 

Fii^st in Yield of Wheat per Acre. — 18J< bushels in 1891, and in the front rank of 
wheat states; 27,900,148 bushels in 1891. 

First in Value of Farm Crops Generally, per Acre. — Leading Ohio. Indiana, 
Illinois and all the great northwest. For ten years, ending 1890, Michigan led all 
these states, not only in yield per acre of wheat, but also in the value product per acre 
of wheat, corn, oats, barley, buckwheat and hay crops. 

Fir.^t in Hardivood Forests. — Quality, quantity and nearness to consuming centers, 
and in hardwood manufactures. 

First in Furniture. — One hundred and seventy-eight factories in sixty cities, 
capital 89.855,000. Grand Rapids, forty-flve factories, $5,000,000 capital and 5,000 
hands. Detroit, twenty factories, capital 8750,000. 

First in Fruit. — Apples, peaches, plums, pears, etc. 

First in Peppermint Oil. — More than all the rest of the State combined. Product 
for 1892, 88.000 pounds, value 8176.000 at still. In 1890-1 the United States exported 
4.5,.321 pounds of oil, valued at 82.66 per pound; while Japan (only other surplus pro- 
ducer) exported same year 39,149 pounds, valued at eighty-five cents per pound. 

Third in Value of Sheep and Wood. — Only Ohio and California leading her. 
Michigan, 88,552.679; California, 89.559,475; Ohio. 813.900.263 Michigan 1891 wool clip, 
11,7.32,395 pounds — average per lleece. six and one-third pounds. Total domestic pro- 
duct, by 1890 census, 258,757,101 pounds. 



The Peninsular State. 287 

First in Extent of Coast Line. — Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, St. Clair, Erie, 
over 2,000 miles coast. 

First in Lake Commerce, and Second in Vessel Tonnage of all kinds. — Center of 
commerce of great lakes. Tonnage on these lakes in 1891, 1,063,063; vessels, 
2M5; value, §75,590,950. Total ton mileage on lakes in 1890 was 25 per cent of 
total United States railway ton mileage. Freight tonnage passing. Sault canal in 
1890, 8,554,434, 1,604,341 more than Suez Canal; through Detroit river, 21,684.000 
tons, about same as London and Liverpool combined, or our entire Atlantic 
coast foreign trade tonnage. Steamers. ].237; sail, 927; unrigged, 771; steel 
89; iron. 39; wood, 2,817. " About one quarter the tonnage of our entire 
merchant marine is on the northern lakes, and the large steam tonnage 
on the great lakes (1,000 tons and upward) exceeds the total similar ton- 
nage of all the rest of the country by 131,093 tons." — U. S. Statistician Dodge. 
Michigan leads in this commerce, and her vessel tonnage is surpassed only by 
New York, the great ocean carrier. Vessel tonnage for year ending June .30, 
1892: Michigan, 390,920; Massachusetts. 389.942; Pennsylvania, 353.057; Maine, 352,- 
574; California, 316,872; Ohio, 315,849; Maryland, 143,536; New York, 1,.339,937; total 
for United States, 4,764,961. Since 1886 Michigan's tonnage has increased 164,529, 
and New York's 121,824 tons. — Statistics U. S. Bureaii of Navigation. 

First in Ship Building. — Total tonnage built in 1890: northern lakes, 108.5265 
whole sea-board, 169.091; western rivers, 16.506; grand total, 294,123. Of this 108,- 
526 lake tonnage, Michigan yards at Bay City, Detroit and Grand Haven built 
45,733 tons, 65 vessels, including two 4,000 tons steel steamers for the ocean 
trade. " The steam tonnage built on great lakes in 1890 was 40 per cent greater 
than that of the entire sea-board; lakes, 86,023 tons; entire sea-board, 61,137 
tons." — Statistician Dodge. i 

First in Inland Commercial Fisheries.— Caich. in 1892 valued at 81,058,028 in 
first hands. Michigan fish-freezing industry alone employed 4,000 hands. 

First in its State University. — Science, literature, law, medicine, with its 2,800 
students. And not second in its common, high, normal, and mining schools and 
Agricultural College. 

First in Summer Resorts.— Brook trout, grayling, black bass and other stream 
and lake fishing. 

State Benevolent Institutions. — School for Blind, Lansing; Deaf Mutes, Flint; 
State Public School, Coldwater; Soldiers' Home, Grand Rapids; Industrial Home 
for Girls. Adrian; Industrial School for Boys, Lansing; Asylums for Insane, Kala- 
mazoo, Pontiac and Traverse City; Asylum for Dangerous and Criminal Insane, 
Ionia; Home for Feeble Minded, (not located). 

Railway Mileage— Seven thousand three hundred and five increase of 3,482 miles 
over 1880, or 91 per cent; in 1870, 1739; in 1860 only 770 miles. 

Street Raihvays. — Three hundred and twenty-six miles in twenty-five cities; 216 
electric, 90 horse, 20 steam. 



V,. 



LE D '07 



